HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRCMinutes_2017_10_10Brookings Human Rights Commission Minutes
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Room 300 Community Room, Brookings City & County Government Building
Attendance:Maggie Owens, vice-chair;Lawrence Novotny, recorder;Laura Renee Chandler;Chandradhar
Dwivedi;George Hamer;Penny Hauffe; Judy Karen;Meagan Irvine-Miller (student representative);Shafiqur
Rahman (county representative);Shari Thornes, city clerk-staff; Nathan Ziegler, SDSU liaison
Absent:Steve Bayer, chair.
Vice-chair Owens called the meeting to order at 12:01 pm.
A motion was made by Dwivedi, seconded by Rahman,to adopt the agenda with the additions to review the
essay rubric, report on political Monday and conference request.All present voted yes;motion carried.
A motion was made by Dwivedi, seconded by Karen, to approve the minutes of the August 14 meeting. All
present voted yes; motion carried.
Martin Luther King Jr.Contest:
December 6 is the deadline for entry submissions, and December 12 at 11 am has been scheduled for the
judging day.The posters will be displayed in downtown business windows. Hamer will check with businesses in
advance.A request has been made to the teachers to staple the student info sheet to the back of the poster.
This info sheet will be removed before the posters are displayed.
Novotny had a concern with the essay contest scoring rubric that was adopted at the last meeting. Novotny felt
that having four evaluation criteria was too much and suggested two criteria.A motion was made by Novotny,
seconded by Hamer,to have two evaluation criteria: theme and delivery.All present voted yes; motion carried.
Diversity Potluck:
Around 120 (including about 25 students) attended the fall potluck on October 8. No city officials attended. An
attendee noted that most of the participants were white.That person was expecting to see more of an
international makeup.Nate Ziegler gave a good presentation, and all of the food was consumed.
Dates were set for the 2018 potlucks:either April 8 or 15 and October 14.
Ordinance Amendments:
The amendments to the human rights commission ordinance were approved unanimously 7-0 by the city council
on September 26.The amendments added sexual orientation and gender identity to the non-discrimination
categories that will be enforced.There is a 21-day period whereby a citizen can petition to bring an ordinance to
a public vote after it has been adopted. The HRC will hold off on issuing a press release about the ordinance until
after this period is over which is October 20. The plan is to issue two separate press releases –one about the
ordinance and one about our new MEI score.
Volunteer Coffee with the Mayor:
Mayor Corbett hosted a coffee consisting of two representatives from each of the city’s boards, committees and
commissions. Hamer and Miller represented HRC. Hamer found it informative to learn about what the other city
groups are doing.
Community Common Read:
HRC is currently running a series of weekly articles in the Brookings Register.Each of the eight members of the
religious pluralism panel takes their turn on writing about their religion. Moderator Teri Johnson will submit
questions to the panelists ahead of time.
Nate Ziegler arrived at this point.
Inclusivity Team:
The team is trying to arrange a meeting with a local business person to discuss a funding proposal.
Speaking Engagement Reports:
Owens presented to Dan Berg’s high school business /legal regulations class and spoke about diversity and
inclusion.
Novotny represented the HRC at Upstream Coffee’s Political Monday discussion on September 18. Five people
attended including city councilor Mary Kidwiler.One of the questions was how many complaints the HRC has
handled.Someone suggested that HRC should do a Native American Day contest similar to our King Day contest.
Campus Conference:
A group on campus is planning to hold a conference on global human rights a year from now. They are in the
process of submitting a grant request and wanted to know if the HRC would be willing to be a sponsor.The HRC
needs more information before they can commit.
Equity Lens & Diversity Council:
Ziegler reported that the campus diversity council still is in the process of being developed.He is planning on
having a member of HRC and the Brookings Reconciliation Council be on the campus council.The campus
council will consist of about 60 members and meet twice a semester.The goal is to make every department on
campus be involved in diversity and inclusion.Ziegler is working on creating an abridged equity lens and will be
holding workshops.
Calendar:
Oct 23 –Religious Panel Discussion
Oct 28 –PFLAG meeting
Nov 2 –Common Read keynote speaker
Nov 2 –Sioux Falls diversity conference
Nov 14 –HRC meeting
Adjourn:Motion made to adjourn at 12:59 pm.All approved.
Submitted by Lawrence Novotny, recorder