Spring Break
Student appeals after being banned from campus
by Jillian Wagner
News Editor
News | 3/11/08
Posted online at 4:45 AM EST on 3/11/08
/ Last updated at 7:01 PM EST on 3/11/08
Waltham Police arrested Mamoon Darwish TYP on Feb. 16 following his involvement in a fistfight on South Street. Darwish has since been suspended from school and forbidden from setting foot on campus.
Students called in the fight, which took place by the bus stop across from the main campus entrance, to the University Police. According to Senator for Racial Minority Students, Gabe Gaskin '08, who spoke with someone who saw the fight, the altercation was initiated by another student involved in the fight, not Darwish. However, charges have been filed only against Darwish, and the University Board of Student Conduct held a hearing on the case.
Gaskin said he thought that only Darwish was charged because University Police believed he was a threat to the campus.
Darwish declined to comment on the incident before the submission and evaluation of his appeal to the UBSC, which he filed last Monday after the UBSC issued a ruling.
According to Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams, the appeal "needs to be based on the process and not the sanction of the case."
Therefore, "If there's fault with the process then the Appeals Board gets to look at [the appeal] after it is submitted to the dean [of student life, Rick Sawyer], and then [the UBSC members] decide whether they'd like to rehear the case," Adams said.
Many of Darwish's friends, as well as student advocates, have expressed concerns about the how the administration has treated him, including banning him from campus when he has no other residential options, a situation exacerbated by the fact that Darwish is an international student.
Adams, however, said that "The policies and rules that govern our community are for every student, so the fact that he's a foreign Transitional Year Program student doesn't really have a bearing on this. It's not dependent on who you are that's going to be the determinant of how the rules affect you. At the same time, we're really not trying to put people in the street."
Students called in the fight, which took place by the bus stop across from the main campus entrance, to the University Police. According to Senator for Racial Minority Students, Gabe Gaskin '08, who spoke with someone who saw the fight, the altercation was initiated by another student involved in the fight, not Darwish. However, charges have been filed only against Darwish, and the University Board of Student Conduct held a hearing on the case.
Gaskin said he thought that only Darwish was charged because University Police believed he was a threat to the campus.
Darwish declined to comment on the incident before the submission and evaluation of his appeal to the UBSC, which he filed last Monday after the UBSC issued a ruling.
According to Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams, the appeal "needs to be based on the process and not the sanction of the case."
Therefore, "If there's fault with the process then the Appeals Board gets to look at [the appeal] after it is submitted to the dean [of student life, Rick Sawyer], and then [the UBSC members] decide whether they'd like to rehear the case," Adams said.
Many of Darwish's friends, as well as student advocates, have expressed concerns about the how the administration has treated him, including banning him from campus when he has no other residential options, a situation exacerbated by the fact that Darwish is an international student.
Adams, however, said that "The policies and rules that govern our community are for every student, so the fact that he's a foreign Transitional Year Program student doesn't really have a bearing on this. It's not dependent on who you are that's going to be the determinant of how the rules affect you. At the same time, we're really not trying to put people in the street."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 4
Harris Najib
posted 4/09/08 @ 3:11 PM EST
This is absolutely absurd. When a higher education institute like Brandeis discriminates against its own students, it shows that the whole yell about social justice and truth is a huge lie. (Continued…)
Damoon Marwish
posted 4/09/08 @ 4:58 PM EST
I love how everyone is willing to assume Darwish is complelty innocent of any wrong doing. Why hasn't the justice at least attempted to interview the other person from the fight that Darwish is accused of starting? Getting the other side of the story would do wonders for balance. (Continued…)
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