Spring Break
Bill of Rights delayed due to wording issues
by Harry Shipps
Staff writer
News | 4/7/09
Posted online at 7:33 AM EST on 4/7/09
The Student Bill of Rights, a document seeking to clarify students' rights in relation to the University that has been compiled by Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer and members of the Student Union, likely will not be finalized by the end of the year after University attorneys raised additional concerns with the document, according to Sawyer.
The two problems with the bill are its language and the scope of the changes that it will implement in the University, Sawyer explained.
Sawyer said that problems regarding the wording of the bill arose from his "misjudgment" about whether the new Bill of Rights was ready. "What I forgot, or what I didn't think about, was that a Student Bill of Rights … has impact for the entire institution … many of the items in the draft that we had come to some finality around … had implications for other sectors of the University that hadn't even occurred to me," he said.
In a previous interview with the Justice, Student Union President Jason Gray '10, who initiated the Student Bill of Rights project last year, said "I expect that within the next few days, the Student Bill of Rights will be signed by the Department of Student Life and the student government." Sawyer, however, now said that he doubted if the bill would be finalized by the end of this year but added that he is committed to the project and will continue to work to create a Student Bill of Rights and get it approved.
Gray originally proposed the Bill of Rights as an attempt to clarify student rights. He said that the University-produced Rights and Responsibilities Handbook was too long and "no one read it." At the beginning of this year, Gray and Director of Student Rights and Advocacy Laura Cohen '09 entered into discussions with Sawyer and other members of the administration in order to produce a final and official Student Bill of Rights.
Sawyer said that the problems with the bill fell into two main categories. First, he said, "The language and general tone of [the most recent draft of the] Student Bill of Rights is the language and tone for a bill of rights that you would find at a public institution."
The two problems with the bill are its language and the scope of the changes that it will implement in the University, Sawyer explained.
Sawyer said that problems regarding the wording of the bill arose from his "misjudgment" about whether the new Bill of Rights was ready. "What I forgot, or what I didn't think about, was that a Student Bill of Rights … has impact for the entire institution … many of the items in the draft that we had come to some finality around … had implications for other sectors of the University that hadn't even occurred to me," he said.
In a previous interview with the Justice, Student Union President Jason Gray '10, who initiated the Student Bill of Rights project last year, said "I expect that within the next few days, the Student Bill of Rights will be signed by the Department of Student Life and the student government." Sawyer, however, now said that he doubted if the bill would be finalized by the end of this year but added that he is committed to the project and will continue to work to create a Student Bill of Rights and get it approved.
Gray originally proposed the Bill of Rights as an attempt to clarify student rights. He said that the University-produced Rights and Responsibilities Handbook was too long and "no one read it." At the beginning of this year, Gray and Director of Student Rights and Advocacy Laura Cohen '09 entered into discussions with Sawyer and other members of the administration in order to produce a final and official Student Bill of Rights.
Sawyer said that the problems with the bill fell into two main categories. First, he said, "The language and general tone of [the most recent draft of the] Student Bill of Rights is the language and tone for a bill of rights that you would find at a public institution."
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