On July 18, the Let’s Talk task force had its final recorded meeting, concluding a summer of high-profile forums with Kyle Farley, Renee Dugan and Chris O'Connell of NYU Abu Dhabi’s Student Life Department, Tina Wadhwa of NYUAD’s Health Promotion Office and Student Government’s Kelly Murphy and Marie-Claude Hykpo, both class of 2018. While initially an informal affair, the Let’s Talk task force addressed a variety of sensitive topics on campus ultimately serving as a de facto student government for part of the summer.

The genesis of Let’s Talk happened in late April 2017 when the NYUAD community was divided over the acceptability of an Instagram account using mynyuad as its username. Traditionally, variations of #mynyuad have been used as a means to brand and advertise NYUAD in public-facing material, especially on social media. The Instagram account bearing the username mynyuad incited strife after it posted a series of satirical, and at times morbid, posts about NYUAD. The debate took place on the Facebook group NYUAD Forum, and was one significant debate concerning anonymous criticism of the university. Another one was begun by the so-called Reading Group’s letter in Febuary and with the placing of critical post-it notes on the physical #myNYUAD sign on campus at the end of the spring semester. In the wake of the #mynyuad affair, the Let’s Talk task force was formed as a means to mediate student concerns.

The student initiative led by Yumi Gambrill, class of 2018, posted on university social media on April 29 asking for members of the community to submit anonymous concerns to a Google form titled Let’s Talk as an alternative to the informal discussions that followed the #mynyuad affair on campus.

“These are very valid complaints,” Gambrill remarked of the points raised following the #mynyuad affair, “I understand both sides of this stuff – we need awareness, but also I work for the admissions office. I don’t want to give a tour and have people reading this stuff before they come in. I understand both sides.”

In late April and into May, the task force began meeting to discuss how to best address the several pages long list of complaints submitted to the Let’s Talk portal. Using her contacts within the university administration gained from her work as Dining Committee Chairwoman and in cooperation with Student Government, Gambrill began to meet with members of the administration to discuss the litany of issues raised. The first recorded meeting between Gambrill, representing the task-force, the administration and Student Government took place on May 23. The meeting would be the first of six recorded meetings.

“I realize I’m in this weird position. I’m very much heavily relying on the faith of everyone at school in me and their trust in me to be transparent – not be putting my ideas over theirs. That’s one of the reasons I put out all the meeting minutes,” said Gambrill.

“I know I am walking a fine line [between] is she just a mouthpiece for the administration or is she actually listening to us. I have met with students specifically about this,” Gambrill explained.

The notes of the Let’s Talk meetings were kept in a Google Drive folder accessible only to those with an NYU email address. Specific anecdotes submitted by students were kept anonymous in meetings and in some circumstances left directly unaddressed in the sharable notes in an effort to protect privacy.

Nevertheless, the posted notes show that initial meetings of the group boasted productive results. Various discussions were held on how to improve student health on campus in addition to discussions of sexual misconduct and campus diversity. The talks acknowledged changes in campus culture and a need to educate students more about the realities of living in the UAE. Most of the suggested solutions to the various health issues on campus focused on better educational strategies during Marhaba, along with better engaging student groups who can provide more frank messaging.

“Many of the suggestions we heard from students centered around increasing awareness about the UAE's culture [and] customs, discussing NYUAD's community values, offering greater clarity on policies [and] expectations and helping students explore Abu Dhabi,” wrote Dean of Students, Kyle Farley in an email to The Gazelle.

Farley continued, describing two of the changes made to the 2017 Marhaba, “We've invited Ask Ali — a well-regarded speaker on UAE culture — to conduct interactive sessions with first-year students to help address their questions about what it means to live in the UAE. Furthermore, we have added a new Community Expectations panel, which includes [upperclassman] students talking about what it means to be part of the NYUAD student community.”

The final meeting of the task force was notable in the seeming shift from an advisory body to the semi-official summer representatives of NYUAD students. Discussing the university’s understanding of the Qatar sympathy speech law and student complaints about diploma attestation, Let’s Talk became the main means of information exchange between the administration and the students. Especially in the case of the Qatar law, the Let’s Talk minutes and Gambrill’s social media update to the student body represent the most instructional administrative reaction to the Qatar situation, outside of the statement released on the Student Portal.

Separate from the specific meeting notes, an anthology of responses to student complaints was created within the Let’s Talk Google Drive. This anthology document includes responses to questions the Let’s Talk group received personally, questions raised on the social media page NYUAD Confessions, questions raised in active social media discussions about NYUAD and notes from Student Government meetings, in addition to the direct form complaints. Unlike the specific meeting notes, the anthology document addresses student concerns about admissions materials, the status of financial aid, potential changes to academic programs, student identity and respect, staff treatment and online social norms.

The Let’s Talk task force is continuing its search for someone to take up its role as the adjudicator of anonymous information and providing policy recommendations for the upcoming semester. Some concerns raised during the spring semester and over the summer still remain unanswered. While suggestions of joining Student Government have been entertained, Gambrill received them with skepticism as some students do not trust Student Government enough to have them properly review and air the complaints made.

Discussing the future role of the Let’s Talk initiative, Student Government President Kelly Murphy disagreed.

“The task force doesn't need to continue any longer because Marie-Claude [Hykpo] and I will have weekly meetings with Dean Farley, [just like the President and Vice President last year]. The task force was ad hoc over summer term and now that summer is over, we can [solve problems] using more established methods,” stated Murphy.