The UPUA passed a policy to add a land acknowledgment to the beginning of their meeting agendas. The acknowledgment recognizes that Penn State's campuses are located on Indigenous homelands and acknowledges the history of displacement that enabled Penn State's establishment. It commits the UPUA to reflecting on and addressing Penn State's complicity in the exploitation of Indigenous peoples. The specific land acknowledgment statement was developed in consultation with the Indigenous Peoples Student Association. The UPUA constitution and bylaws were amended to include the land acknowledgment as the second item on meeting agendas.

1. THE UNIVERSITY PARK UNDERGRADUATE ASSOCIATION
The Pennsylvania State University
16th Assembly
2021 - 2022 Session
Policy #03-16
April 28th
, 2021
Be it decided by the Assembly of Student Representatives,
having been brought to the floor by 2/3rds,
a
POLICY
Addition of a Land Acknowledgement to the Meeting Agenda
Nature of the Situation:
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In the 15th
Assembly, the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) passed a
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resolution in support of a University Land Acknowledgement at Penn State. The Pennsylvania
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State University, like many other public universities, was in part established through the
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purchase of a vast amount of land that has been determined to have been stolen from a multitude
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of Indigenous tribes. Many land-grant universities, including The Pennsylvania State University,
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have benefited from the Morill Act of 1862, which granted states thousands of acres of federal
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land that paved the way for the development of large public universities—land that was mainly
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seized from Indigenous peoples.1
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Across the United States, tens of land-grant universities are acknowledging their role in the
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displacement of thousands of Indigenous peoples. By acknowledging this history, universities
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are able to begin to come to terms with the negative socioeconomic impacts that have been
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perpetuated towards Indigenous communities while committing to actively finding ways to
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reconcile with Indigenous peoples and to find ways to rectify the moral wrongs of the past. The
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1 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/history-of-education-quarterly/article/entangled-pasts-landgrant-
colleges-and-american-indian-dispossession/79E42113A0A51B21903DFB1229F7DE88/core-reader

2. UPUA has the ability to ensure that its own members be cognizant of the land that was forcibly
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taken from the Indigenous communities in Pennsylvania.
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Recommended Course of Action:
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The University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) makes the following changes
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pertaining to the UPUA Constitution as seen in [Appendix A].
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The Chair of the General Assembly meeting will recite the following statement for the Land
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Acknowledgement:
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“The University Park Undergraduate Association acknowledges that The Pennsylvania State
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University campuses are located on the original homelands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Lenni
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Lenape, Shawnee, Susquehannock, and Wahzhazhe Nations. It is important to acknowledge the
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history of displacement that led to Penn State’s establishment. It is crucial for us, as the
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University Park student government, to reflect and address the complicated past of exploitation
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of Indigenous peoples by our University so that we remain educated representatives of Penn
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State.”
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This is credited to the Indigenous Peoples Student Association.
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The UPUA acknowledges that the Indigenous Peoples Student Association is perpetually
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working on a living land acknowledgement that requires further research and patience and that a
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statement cannot be solidified within the governing documents for said reasoning. The statement
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made by the Chair is also subject to change depending on updates issued from the Indigenous
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Peoples Student Association.
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The following changes to the Bylaws will be made:
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Change:
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§3.2.3 The Agenda shall be set by the Speaker of the Assembly and published by the
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Secretary for public viewing at least two (2) academic days in advance of a General
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Meeting. The Agenda shall consist of:
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cl. i Call to Order, Opening Roll Call, and Announcement of Quorum.
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cl. ii Land Acknowledgement.
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cl. iii Adoption of the Agenda.
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cl. iv Adoption of the past General Meeting minutes.
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cl. v Special Presentations.
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cl. vi Open Student Forum.
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cl. vii Report by the President.
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cl. viii Report by the Vice President.
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cl. ix Liaison and Affiliate Reports.
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cl. x Old Business.
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cl. xi Caucus Breakout.
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3. cl. xii New Business.
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pt. a Elections/Appointments/Nominations/Swearing-In.
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pt. b Policies
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pt. c Bills.
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pt. d Resolutions.
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cl . xiii Report by the Chief Justice of the Judicial Board.
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cl. xiv Report by the Chief of Staff and Executive Staff.
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cl. xv Report by the Speaker of the Assembly.
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cl. xvi Committee Reports.
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cl. xvii Comments for the Good of the Order.
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cl. xviii Closing Roll Call and Adjournment.
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Change:
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All references to the 14th
Assembly will be changed to the 16th
Assembly.
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All references to the 2019-2020 school year will be changed to the 2021-2022 school
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year.
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[Appendix B]
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4. Respectfully submitted,
Aarathi Kallur
APIDA Representative
Chair of Justice and Equity
Cara Fliegel
At-Large Representative
Chair of Facilities
Steering Vote: 5/0/0
Assembly Vote: 35/0/0
Speaker of the Assembly ________________________________________________
President of the Student Body ________________________________________________
The University Park Undergraduate Association
Erin E Boas