In response to the felony charges against four students allegedly involved in putting up ‘wanted’ posters, the University’s Student Association (SA) passed a bill titled “Resolution to Condemn the University’s Discriminatory Responses to Instances of Vandalism and Hate Speech on Campus” Monday evening.
The bill calls for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, the International Students Affairs Committee, and the Campus Life Committee to distribute a survey to the student body about the response to the ‘wanted’ posters; and for key leadership figures such as the Chief of Public Safety, directors of student conduct, and the Dean of Students to come to SA for an open discussion on the matter.
The bill was passed with a single dissenting vote from first-year Senator Austin DeLorme.
“I voted no in the resolution for two reasons,” DeLorme said. “First, I believe it is a dangerous precedent we are setting by allowing exceptions for students that violate the code of conduct […] I believe it is not the place of the Senate or right of the Senate to make a decision about conduct violations. This is up to ACJC and administration.”
According to senior Senator Dariel Guerra, three out of the four arrested students have been suspended from the University for two years and the other was expelled. According to the guide of conduct, the suspended students are eligible to reapply when their suspension finishes, but readmittance is not guaranteed.
The senators were informed of these charges by the arrested students, who forwarded them their University disciplinary letters. Copies of the disciplinary letters, allegedly verbatim, were shown at Monday’s senate meeting.
“I think it’s important to kind of look at this just objectively,” first-year Senator Ben Silverberg said. “Should people be punished for vandalism, for singling, you know, administrators and faculty? Yeah, the answer is yes.”
However, Silverberg also said that the University mishandled the situation, adding that he believed that the students had not been treated fairly.
“I think I am not that sympathetic to [the arrested students],” he said. “But I am sympathetic to the idea that [there is] not enough transparency.”
