On Monday, the Georgetown University Student Association released its proposal for a student bill of rights, an addendum to the Student Code of Conduct that will spell out students’ rights and responsibilities in the University’s judicial process and make revisions to the code itself.
According to Michael Barclay (COL ’12), Chief of Staff to the GUSA executive and a member of the Student Code of Conduct Reform Committee, the most ambitious of the proposed reforms is changing the language of burden of proof on the University from “more likely than not” to “clear and convincing.”
Charged students would be assumed to be innocent unless the decision-maker is persuaded by “clear and convincing” evidence, excluding sexual assault cases.
GUSA Vice-President Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) said at the GUSA Senate meeting last Sunday that the bill will launch a dialogue aimed at enhancing the current Student Code of Conduct. He said the proposed bill, consisting of “five glaring rights and five glaring responsibilities,” delineates students’ rights while evoking a clear sense of their responsibility as Georgetown students.
The Student Code of Conduct Reform Committee was created from the beginning to address recurrent complaints from students.
“Students have repeatedly complained about lack of transparency and not having sufficient actions streamlined,” GUSA Student Life Committee Chairwoman Laura Kresse (SFS ‘13) said.
Barclay also drew attention to a hitch in the current Code of Conduct, writing in an email that the code “is not up to date with the needs of students and the university, nor does it unambiguously protect the rights of students.”
Duties of students outlined by the bill include responsibility to be aware of the student code, to present identification, to act as good neighbors in and out of Georgetown community, and to curtail risky behavior.
The bill also codifies students’ rights to deny unreasonable search and seizure by University officials, and
resolves the untimely manner of the judicial process by obliging that the written disclosure of judicial decisions be released within 48 hours of the hearing.
In addition, the bill enables charged students to speak with advisers and also allows the advisers to accompany the student to the hearings.
Kresse further explained that the bill states that any kind of disciplinary procedures be streamlined, thereby increasing transparency in the judicial process. The bill also establishes the newly-launched Student Advocacy Office as a resource for students facing disciplinary charges.
Laverriere stressed that the current language of the bill is by no means finalized.
“There are still conversations that need to be had with key primary stakeholders,” he said. “It would be premature to set a final deadline for these changes.”
Down the road, all changes must be voted through the Disciplinary Review Committee before the bill is officially incorporated in the Student Code of Conduct. The Student Code of Conduct Reform Committee and the Disciplinary Review Committee had its first discourse on the proposed amendments on Tuesday.
“We are always interested in thoughtful student proposals,” Associate Vice President of University Student Affairs Jeanne Lord wrote in an email.
GUSA is deliberating various ways to gather student input, including a campus-wide referendum and a series of town hall meetings.
A pamphlet on students’ rights will be released from the GUSA Executive and Student Life Committee, in conjunction with the Student Advocacy Office.
“We hope to solicit input from both students and administrators at every step on the way and already have started to receive feedback,” Barclay wrote.
LONG overdue. Great job to everyone working on this. This is what student advocacy should look like.
has anyone actually read this thing? I hope you all take out the part where one is not allowed to have the opposite sex in his/her room after 12am.