During the ASUW Senate session yesterday, the delegation passed a resolution to adopt the Husky Creed, a set of six affirmative statements that define what it means to be a Husky and, if passed, will represent all Huskies,

“The Creed could provide an opportunity for students to have a document that helps unite them as Huskies and provides a framework for them to engage in conversations and discussions,” said Elizabeth Higgins, director of Community Standards and Student Conduct (CSSC).

If the Husky Creed is adopted as an official document, it will be integrated into the UW community and campus as the set of values upheld by the collective members of the UW, including students, alumni, faculty and staff. Some measures that may be taken to incorporate the creed include introducing it into new-student orientation programs and developing mass-marketing materials such as brochures and T-shirts, said Tunny Vann, director of community relations for ASUW.

Along with CSSC and ASUW, organizations such as the Office of Student Life, First Year Programs, Student Activities and Union Facilities, and several other student organizations were involved in the drafting of this document over the summer.

This student initiative was first brought into discussions in 2007 when Tyler Dockins held the position of ASUW President, Vann said.

The Husky Creed is now in the process of becoming a legitimate document to be integrated into the UW community, one of the first steps of which was to pass a resolution in the senate.

Resolution 16-2, a resolution to adopt the Husky Creed, passed with 41 votes for, four votes against and four abstentions.

The enacting clauses of this resolution were that the ASUW supports the adoption of the Husky Creed, that the ASUW supports the creation of a task force by the board of directors designated to integrate the document into the UW campus and that the ASUW recommends the task force be chaired by the director of community relations.

Junior Chris Teeny, the Interfraternity Council delegate, voted for adopting the Husky Creed.

“I hope the Creed can be a statement that anyone, anywhere, who was ever affiliated with the UW community, can recognize as a standard to uphold to represent our community well,” Teeny said.

Anthony Medica, a junior and senator for Phi Delta Theta, was one of the few votes against the resolution.

“I like the intent, but I feel time and energy can be put to better pursuits,” Medica said. “We’re in a budget crisis. We don’t have a lot of money, so anything to expand accessibility of the UW to students in the fiscal crisis would be a better use of time and resources.”

The cost of this operation is to be determined by the designated task force. While the exact numbers have not yet been finalized, Vann assured that the resources needed for this project are available and that students will not have to bear any of the costs.

“The funding for this project is not concrete yet … but we would not have gone forward with this project if all the groups that we collaborated with did not feel like it was possible to go forward,” Vann said. “This is not an ASUW-funded project, so the funds will not come from student pockets.”

However, before any decisive steps can be taken to integrate the Husky Creed into the UW community, it must also be supported by other organizations such as the Faculty Senate, the Resident Hall Student Association and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, among others.

“We want as much student support behind this project as possible before we move forward with anything,” Vann said.

Reach contributing writer Joanna Nolasco at news@dailyuw.com.