Students' rights are worth protecting
University can punish, suspend or expel us for off-campus infractions
Aaron Brewster
Issue date: 3/2/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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The new guidelines we opposed would allow the university to punish, suspend or expel students for acts committed off campus that did not directly involve the university. The wording is so vague that any infraction, even a speeding ticket or noise violation, could be used as grounds for academic sanctions, including expulsion.
As if that wasn't bad enough, students only have to be charged with a crime, not convicted, to be subject to academic sanctions. And should a student be found not guilty of the infraction in a court of law, the sanctions could be left in place at the discretion of the UW System administration.
To be fair, there are options for appeal, but you are only allowed to have a legal counsel present, not have them speak for you. Furthermore, the appeal option is to another level of administration, not to a jury of your fellow students that might be less biased against you.
If students are thinking to themselves "Holy crap, this sounds like the Soviet Union!" you would not be far off. The rights of students to due process, adequate representation and freedom from double jeopardy are in serious danger of disappearing within the System, and no one in the System administration appears to care. Their response is simply: "Trust us. We won't screw you."
As much as I would like to trust the System administration not to needlessly violate student rights, history has shown that authority will always abuse its power unless strictly regulated by the people over which it governs.
And where are the elected student leaders whose job it is to be the voice of the students and protect student rights? Many of us have taken a stand against this outrage and will continue to do so, but we can only shout so loud.
The voices amongst us that could and should have shouted the loudest have chosen to side with the System administration.
Student Body President Tim Lauer and Vice President Meghan Charlier, as well as a handful of Student Senators, voted against our resolution and defended the administration's "trust us" approach to oversight.
We are fighting an uphill battle and time is running out. The only hope to stop this farce is to create a critical mass of pissed off students so large it cannot be ignored. If you are interested in fighting this blatant violation of student rights, come visit the Student Senate in Davies Center 132 and talk to me, Aaron Brewster, or Michael Umhoefer, Amber Bretl or Paige Overby.
Note: A group of concerned students from UW-Eau Claire will be going March 5 to Milwaukee to voice our concerns directly to the System Board of Regents. A large presence will increase our odds of success.
If you are interested in joining us, e-mail me at brewstaj@uwec.edu or give me a call at (715)703-0353.
Brewster is a senior economics major and guest columnist for The Spectator.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 6
Alum
posted 3/02/09 @ 1:23 AM CST
Wasn't Brewster a senior when I was a freshman like 5 years ago? Is this guy ever going to attempt to enter the real world, or at least grad school?
Tim Lauer
posted 3/02/09 @ 12:45 PM CST
First of all, I would like to point out that the author has misinformation regarding the appeals process. In fact, typically at UW institutions, the appeals process involves a committee that includes student membership. (Continued…)
Steve M
posted 3/04/09 @ 1:09 AM CST
If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that we can trust those in authority to do the right thing.
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