On March 27, the Student Government General Assembly will hold a vote to decide on the amendment to modify Section Two of Article III of the Student Government Constitution. The amendment was proposed during a previous GA on March 13, and it recommends to include the following clause to Section Two of Article III: “Students on Leave of Absence are also considered to be members of the Student Body.”

A positive two-thirds vote is needed for the proposed amendment to pass. As mentioned in the newsletter that the Student Government sent on March 21, the amendment will be open to changes in wording prior to voting.

On March 24, an email was sent out on behalf of Dean of Arts and Humanities Robert J.C. Young about new majors and concentrations currently under consideration by the Arts and Humanities division. The email asked students to fill out a survey indicating their level of interest in the development of said majors and concentrations. Some of these, such as Interactive Media, Media and Communications, Arabic Studies and Chinese Studies, will be developed exclusively by the Arts and Humanities division. Others, like Legal Studies, African Studies and Philosophy, Politics and Economics will be developed alongside the Social Sciences division.

Following last week’s attacks in Brussels and Istanbul, NYU students from all three campuses received a memorandum from the Vice President of Global Security and Crisis Management Randy Stephan and the Associate Vice Chancellor of Global Programs Josh Taylor about staying safe while traveling. Because the attacks coincided with the university’s spring break, the message outlined the guidelines and precautions students could follow during their personal travels.

On March 23, the Fitness and Wellness Department at NYU Abu Dhabi announced on the Student Portal that Natascha Enriquez will be joining the Fitness and Wellness team as their new specialist. She will direct group fitness classes such as Yin Yang yoga, indoor cycling and power yoga as well as personal training sessions. With Enriquez, the Fitness and Wellness Department now has nine personal trainers specialized in different areas of the wellness and fitness industry.

The Office of Community Outreach will launch #LightUpBlueMovement in the month of April as part of the Autism Awareness Month. The Autism Awareness Community Walk on April 2 will initiate the campaign that will continue throughout the month in collaboration with Autism Support Network, Goals UAE and the UAE ABA Chapter.

The Campus Center torch will be decorated with blue lights to symbolize solidarity with autism. NYUAD freshman Firas Ashraf, an intern at the Autism Support Network, spoke about organizing the campaign and his relationship to it.

“My student team and I have taken lead of planning the Autism Awareness Community Walk on the second of April which is open to everyone,” said Ashraf. “We have had the lead to plan everything from the route itself to the events etc.”

“I have been touched through close friends and family by Autism so this is an important month for me in terms of creating awareness,” said Ashraf.