Tag Archives: sjb

EVENT
Drugs, Harm, and the Campus

How should we – as a university and as a society – address the use of illicit drugs? In light of recent events, the Allbritton Center is bringing together experts from a variety of fields and perspectives for panel discussions on drug use and policies at Wesleyan and beyond. The hope is to have an open and informative dialogue, and to provide a space for sharing your questions and concerns. All students, faculty, staff, and community members are welcome. Questions for panelists may be submitted at each event or in advance to scapron[at]wesleyan[dot]edu or @wes_engage.

Drug Use @Wes
What are we doing about drugs at Wesleyan and why? Join use for a panel discussion on education, support, and policies.
Panelists: Tanya Purdy (Director of Health Education, WesWELL), Beth Dericco (Higher Education Outreach, Caron Treatment Centers), and Ashley Fine ‘15
Moderator: Mike Shaley, Vice President of Student Affairs
Date: Tuesday, April 7
Time: 4:30 PM
Place: PAC 002

The Physiology of Drugs
What is actually happening inside your body?
Panelists: Mike Robinson (Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience & Behavior), Stefanie Jones (Drug Policy Alliance), Mark Neavyn, MD (Director, Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Hartford Hospital)
Moderator: Ishita Mukerji, Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Date: Wednesday, April 15
Time: 8:00 PM
Place: Memorial Chapel

Drug Policy, Regional and National
The policy debate: what is to be done?
Panelists: Ethan Nadelmann (Founder and Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance), Susan O’Connor (Program Director, Phoenix House), Mike Lawlor (Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning in the State Office of Policy and Management)
Moderator: Rob Rosenthal, Director, Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life
Date: Wednesday, April 28
Time: 8:00 PM
Place: Shanklin 107

FEATURED
Crime, Punishment, and Justice in the Face of Tragedy

This post is part of a series of reflections on the recent events on campus. If you have anything that you would like to contribute, please feel free to reach out to us at staff[at]wesleying[dot]org.

In a matter of hours after I write these words, students, friends, and members of the Wesleyan community will be seen before a judicial panel somewhere in North College to determine whether or not they will be allowed to stay on campus. I first heard about this from a petition that is being circulated calling on Deans Whaley, Culliton and Backer for “sound judgment and restorative justice” for the students that are facing a hearing over spring break when the majority of campus is away. The petition states, “judicial processes [are] being blatantly overruled” and seems to paint these trials as unusual, suspicious, and unjust.

I wanted to investigate these claims and help spread awareness of how our school’s judicial system actually functions. While much of this information is available in the “Judicial Procedures” section of our Student Handbook, I know few of us actually read or understand these rights and procedures. This post is my search for truth in face of unfortunate circumstances while recognizing that the Student Judicial Board is so often given a bad reputation due to misinformation. I want to understand how and why these students are being charged and how the University has handled this case.

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Apply to be on the Student Judicial Board

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Kate Cullen ’16 wants to help YOU know the SJB has open positions:

Hey Class of 2015 and Class of 2016!

Interested in applying to be on the SJB? Deadline’s comin’ up on March 28th. Here’s a message from Scott Backer with all the details:

The Student Judicial Board is seeking to fill five positions with students from the Class of 2015 and 2016. The position is a one or two-year appointment beginning in the Fall 2014 semester and continuing through the Spring 2016 semester. An application form is available through Karen Karpa, Clerk of the Student Judicial Board, located in the Dean of Students Office, North College, First Floor, Room 108. The deadline for applications to be handed in is Friday, March 28, 2013 at 5:00pm. A description of the duties of the Student Judicial Board can be found in the Student Handbook at
http://www.wesleyan.edu/studenthandbook/. More after the jump.

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FEATURED
From the Argives: 1970s Changes to Wes Pet Policy

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For anybody who was a fan of the bunny in the Nics last year or a certain cat on Home this year, a search through the Argives (Argus archives) has unearthed something for you. A short hop up to floor 3A in Olin revealed that in our past, pets were a welcome part of the Wesleyan community. In a series of articles and opinion pieces between 1973 and 1975, Argus writers covered not only the changes to the school’s pet policy but also the student outrage after the changes were made during summer break.

By the 1974-1975 academic year, having a pet was looked down upon by the administration. In the words of Dean Edgar F. Beckham, “when pet behavior is not carefully monitored and controlled, Wesleyan becomes a bad environment for many pets and a much worse environment for man members of the community.” Perhaps we can forgive the gendered language as a sign of times past.

The first article, “Beckham Defends Pet Policy” by Chris Mahoney ’76, exposes the controversy that would surround the pet policy for weeks. At the end of the 1973-1974 academic year, the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) and administration refused to implement a new pet policy because they thought it would be “‘inappropriate’ to take such action over the summer without campus discussion.” Then, over the summer, the school asked the SAC to vote on proposed new pets restrictions via mail during the summer recess. The restrictions included a $30 registration fee and tags for all uncaged animals. The SAC members voted in favor of the proposal.

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EVENT
Process Advisor Training

From Kate Cullen ’16:

The WSA Student Affairs Committee and the SJB are hosting Process Advisor Training this week! This training certifies students to counsel peers and friends going through a SJB hearing. The first session is Monday February 17th 12-1pm in Usdan 110 and the second session is Thursday February 20th 3:30-4:30pm in Allbritton 311.

Here’s more info on the process and a link to current Advisors: http://wsa.wesleyan.edu/resources/process-advising/

Email SAC Chair Kate Cullen ’16 at saltemuscull[at]wesleyan[dot]edu with any questions!

Date: Monday, Feb 17th or Thursday, Feb 20th
Time: 12 to 1PM (for Monday) or 3:30PM to 4:30PM (for Thursday)
Place: Usdan 110 (for Monday) or Allbritton 311 (for Thursday)

FEATURED
Newsweek: “Diversity U. Makes a U-Turn” on Activism and Ideals

Newsweek used this photo in their article to contrast the liberal values
that the school likes to think it has with the conservative mindset it actually practices.

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Maybe Wesleyan University learned a lesson today: Not all press is good press.

Today’s in-depth and certainly unflattering Newsweek article by Katie Baker (who wrote that Jezebel piece in May ridiculing the administration for its medieval Tour de Franzia threats) asserts that “Wesleyan seems to be slinking away from its weird and activist roots to attract rich students and even richer donors.” What could the school have done to deserve this sort of criticism?

As we are quite aware, the answer is: a lot. Baker’s article (following on the heels of two Autostraddle and Youngist articles) begins with the issues over degendering bathrooms, with several trans* students speaking up about their not-so-welcome experiences on campus, both from other students in the bathroom (“Wrong bathroom, fag!” one gender nonconforming student heard) and from the administration as a whole. After the group Pissed Off Trans* People organized students to remove gendered bathroom signs and replace them with “All Gender Restroom” signs, the Student Judicial Board singled out three trans* students (claiming they were the only identifiable ones) and charged them with property destruction, at the cost of $157 per sign— $5,245 total.

After a four-and-a-half hour hearing, the board lowered the fine to $451 and gave each student three disciplinary points (10 earns a suspension or dismissal). “The SJB action was taken because vandalism occurred,” Vice President of Student Affairs Mike Whaley said in a statement. “The board does not strive to determine the legitimacy of a protest/action, only whether such protest/action is done in a manner that violates our community’s standards.”

The three students tell Newsweek they feel they were unfairly singled out for actions committed by many but were most concerned with the symbolism of it all: This was the first time anyone knows of that the administration had punished individuals for LGBT activism.

“We’re talking about economic sanctions on activism at a school that profits off a reputation of being a progressive, activist-friendly space,” says Ben, a Wesleyan junior. “Being trans and fighting for trans justice is not profitable or shiny or appealing.”

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FEATURED
University Reduces Fines Against Trans* Activists Amid Show of Force

When the three trans* activists charged with participating in the direct action campaign against gender segregated bathrooms last month went before the SJB on Wednesday, they didn’t go alone. Alongside them stood more than 40 of their friends and allies who packed the lobby of North College in a display of solidarity and support. This energetic but civil crowd included students, professors, and even two supporters from New Haven who had read about the hearing on the Internet and drove up to condemn the University’s response to the actions.

The official SJB protocol allows those accused to invite witnesses to give testimony. Many of those assembled at North College had prepared statements wherein they intended to creatively ‘bear witness’ to the injustice of the proceedings, while refusing to give incriminating testimony in direct relation to the events themselves. In effect, supporters successfully staged a sort of filibuster of the hearing which ultimately lasted a grueling 4.5 hours.

Aside from the massive display of solidarity, which over the course of the afternoon transformed the North College lobby into a temporary encampment of snoozing, snacking, card-playing, homework-doing, carpet-lounging supporters, many things about the proceeding were irregular. For one, the administration had stationed a particularly burly PSafe officer to stand guard at the door. Furthermore, Dean Scott Backer insisted on being present throughout the hearing, the questioning, and the witness testimonies. Reports from inside indicate that he repeatedly interrupted or attempted to cut short the witness testimonies, and at one point threatened to table the hearing entirely despite the fact that dozens of witnesses were assembled outside waiting to testify.

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FEATURED
Alums Circulate Petition in Solidarity With Trans* Activists

In mere hours three students will go before the SJB in a highly controversial hearing on their alleged participation in a political campaign. Alums have sprung into action, drafting a letter in solidarity with the defendants and quickly securing an impressive range of signatories. At the time of this post, more than 211 alumnae from class years spanning 1981-2013 have signed the call from countries all over the world. The full text of the letter and the signatures is below:

We, progressive Wesleyan alumni, are deeply distressed to learn of the mistreatment of current transgender students and allies on campus. We support the brave student activists who responded to their experience of marginalization by expressing themselves through de-gendering the bathrooms.

Transgender people face socially-sanctioned dehuminization and abuse, employment discrimination, threats and violence. Wesleyan’s perpetuation of this behavior is abhorrent and inconsistent with the values that the University fosters among its students, such as social justice, inclusivity, and community. In this and other actions of late we are witnessing an eroding of Wesleyan’s core values, and we are concerned about the current and future climate of a place we once held so dear.

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FEATURED
Trans* Activists Face SJB Hearing Today

Last month, an undetermined number of students ripped off gendered bathroom signs around campus, replacing them with paper “All Gender Bathroom” signs. Three students were referred to the SJB for the removal of these signs, despite a lack of concrete evidence that any of them participated in the degendering process. The three students are being tried by the SJB today, where they face thousands of dollars in fines, untold judicial sanctions, and — despite the fact that their guilt remains undetermined — one has already lost their work-study job.

The following press release emerged yesterday and has begun cropping up around Tumblr and other social media websites since then. In addition, an alumni letter calling for solidarity with the accused activists has been making its rounds gathering signatures. The hearing will take place today at 4:30 PM in North College. Check back here to see how it goes.

The full text of the press release, for your reading pleasure.

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EVENT
Teach-in on Repression of Trans* Activism

pissedofftrans As the SJB hearing for three trans* students charged with degendering campus bathrooms as part of a direct action campaign last month looms closer, allies have organized a teach-in in Usdan today to fill the community in on the facts.

Justine Mitchell ’14 writes in with the deets:

A lot has been happening on campus regarding the de-gendering of bathrooms and the subsequent response from the University.
Come to a student-led info session/discussion about what has been going on.
Get the facts and ask as many questions as you want.

We will cover things like….
the history of trans* activism at Wes
the importance of de-gendering bathrooms
the events that transpired this semester &
the university’s response

Date: TODAY – Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Place: Usdan black couches


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