Important Message from The Chicano Caucus at Columbia University

[Memo Esparza]

Dear ECCSF participants,

Although the Chicano Caucus sent an email addressing capacity restraints last night, Caucus  members continue to receive emails and calls from concerned organizations.  Therefore, we would like to reiterate a few points already mentioned and address specific points brought up in the response emails.


1. Planning
Accusations have been made that Chicano Caucus did not adequately plan for this event to accommodate all interested participants.  We would like to clarify that we have been planning this conference since the beginning of last semester. This included having weekly meetings during the summer to tackle every aspect of this conference. Thus, our committee, our E-board, and all our members have been working diligently to produce a great conference this fall.

Based on the previous conferences we estimated that somewhere around 60 people, at best, usually show up.  We knew people were excited about this conference so we thought maybe that number would stretch to about 80 people. Still, we decided to plan for 100 so we would have enough food and space.  Therefore, our catering, room bookings, outreach organizations, etc was all based on around 120 people (100 non Columbia; roughly 20 Caucus members).  Again, since ECCSF has never had numbers so great, there was no reason to expect even 100.  For this reason, we did not restrict the number of students coming from any given school.  Also, as of Sunday evening only 30 people had signed up and by midnight about 60 people had registered.  We figured maybe we'd get a few stragglers signing up late. After all, people should be responsible and sign up on time; late registration should not be the norm and is for the few people who suddenly become able to attend.  Signing up late adds stress to any host organization and affects all parts of a conference, specifically food and space.


2. Accommodation
When we received a large amount of emails and calls about the cap and the inability to register, we began to search for any way to accomodate the extra amount of people.  We tried very hard to find any space possible that could accommodate a larger group.  At that point, it was too late to book larger spaces.  This was largely due to the fact that the Trustees of Columbia had booked Columbia's largest spaces, as well as all other events occurring on campus.  We decided to stretch past our limit and allow for three people from each of the unrepresented schools to attend, a total of 12 people. We felt it was important to have each school represented at this conference.  We now have 16 spots because of Cornell's withdrawal from the conference. Thus, all our resources have been exhausted at this point.

3. Reimbursement
The Caucus has been asked about possible reimbursement for transportation costs some schools have incurred.  We are sorry but reimbursement is not possible.  We do not have the resources to refund this money for all schools. Moreover, transportation is the responsibility of each school.  The decision to pay for transportation before ticket purchase was at the discretion of each organization. 

4. Respect
We realize each school's situation and frustration and have tried to be as responsive and accommodating as possible. However, some emails and phone calls have been particularly hurtful to Caucus members.   Many accusations, unprofessional language, and hostility has been thrown at our membership.  Though we encourage people to speak freely, voice grievances, and propose solutions, it is necessary that every person be respected in this process. 

Chicano Caucus' decisions on all the aforementioned are final.
We can no longer argue these points, as we are in the final days leading up to the conference and also have a full course load. 
Thank you for your patience.

All other questions may be directed to Moises:  858-349-6917

Best,

The Chicano Caucus