On Thursday, Feb. 16, New College Student Alliance (NCSA) president Michael Long held a community “fireside chat” to discuss the discrimination teach-in and the NCSA scholarship.

The teach-in, which was held on Tuesday, Feb. 14, took place in order to educate New College students on the importance of acceptance and the damaging effects of discrimination. At the fireside chat, the discussion focused on the conception of the event and how it was put into action. The attendees were encouraged to critique the teach-in and voice their opinions on whether they found it successful. These critiques led to a discussion on better ways for students to get together and comfortably express their individual opinions without having to feel targeted.

The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing the idea of an NCSA scholarship. Though the scholarship is still only formative, the overall purpose of the scholarship is concrete. The scholarship, which began to form due to increasing financial need, would be given to New College students that lack sufficient funds to continue their educations.

“A portion of the funds for the scholarship would be generated by interest from the NCSA reserve fund and cabinet members would engage in philanthropic efforts to match the reserve fund contribution,” Long stated.

Further discussions on this topic will be opened to the community and will be announced soon, and students’ ideas on ways to hold more productive community discussions will be encouraged.