A history of student senate’s hate speech bill
In response to recent events in the Free Express Tunnel two weeks ago, Senate Select Committee on Hate Crimes is working on a bill to present to the Student Senate on Wednesday. The original bill called for expulsion of the students who committed the acts and for the University to prosecute the students to the “fullest extent of State and Federal Law.”
Since then, the committee has met to discuss changed to the proposed bill.
“We went through and worked with Maritza [Adonis] to try and figure out what her overall purpose of the bill was and what she wanted to see,” Kelli Rogers, Student Senate president pro tempore, said. “We expanded that as much as we felt we could, as Student Government.”
The committee met not only to address the acts but also possible punishments to discourage this kind of behavior in the future.
The committee also examined the University’s harassment policy, and found that the policy doesn’t clearly state if this kind of behavior is banned or not.
“We felt that this is something that needs to be put into that policy, clearly stating that we as a University will not tolerate threats or violent acts against any individual or University protected group,” Rogers said.
In researching the policies, the committee found students don’t know the Student Conduct Policies.
“It’s not visible, and so when we don’t know the policy, and we’re not allowed to know the outcomes of any specific incidents, how are we supposed to learn from the mistakes of others,” Rogers said.
The committee will continue meets to address the issue. The proposed bill was split into two bills because the committee believed they had two different purposes. The committee met again and decided to combine the two bills into one.
“We got input from the sponsor who originally wrote the bill to make sure it doesn’t take away from what she originally intended it to do,” Rogers said.
The committee’s next step is to continue getting feedback from members of Student Senate and Student Government. They will also meet with University administrators to see if they have any feedback regarding the proposed bill.
“We will vote on it Tuesday as a committee and vote whether or not to accept the amendments we made, and then to recommend it to Senate,” Rogers said. “They’ll hear it on Wednesday, and we’ll vote on it, and pass it through the appropriate channels if it is accepted.”
“The strength and positive force of spirited debate is sapped when we resort to name-calling and negativity,” Chancellor James Oblinger stated in a press release. “Worse, when we lower ourselves to engaging in racist characterizations and inappropriate statements of anger and hate, we make a mockery of our right to free speech.”
Chancellor James Oblinger
Some people say it’s being blown out of proportion and is a violation of free speech. Other people say it’s offensive and the University has to draw the line somewhere. Still others say that they don’t know where the line needs to be drawn, but something different needs to happen and the current reactions are just not sufficient.
Whatever students, faculty or staff think about the racist messages that appeared in the Free Expression Tunnel after Election Day, different groups on campus are holding various events in hopes to encouraging a dialogue, making change or both.
from Saja Hindi’s story, “Graffitti solicits varied campus reactions,” in the Nov. 11 edition of Technician
This is not an issue of white vs. black, but more of an issue of equality and safety. Many students were not surprised by the racist actions but were surprised by the University’s response. Some expressed a concern with the University not releasing the names of the students to the public.
“I should not have to sit in class and wonder if I am sitting next to the person who wrote those statements,” expressed Candace Lee, a senior in business management.
A lot of the students felt the University should have anticipated such events, as they did, and been proactive in the situation. Their concern is not that the President-elect, Barack Obama, will be in danger but that racist students will take out their anger on black students on campus.
from Jade Jack’s story, “Something needs to chance,” in the Nov. 12 edition of the Nubian Message