Update on the Student Code of Conduct
Evergreen students have never been timid in standing up for their rights and beliefs. With so many battles going on at once, it is important that students not become fractured but reinforce attitudes of mutual support. While tuition hikes and budget cuts will likely be taking a leading role in the coming months, the Student Code of Conduct remains a hotspot and a potentially uniting struggle for Evergreen students.
Early last November, nearly 40 students took over the Code of Conduct dtf meeting, demanding their needs and voices be heard. This, along with threats to file a public records request, has forced the dtf to make any substantive changes or updates to the proposed code of conduct available to the public on their website. After this, the Geoduck Student Union appointed three students to the dtf, giving the committee at least a marginal level of transparency and accountability.
The latest draft of the Student Code of Conduct available, dated Jan. 6, does give students a few things to celebrate. The code no longer has any jurisdiction over property damage outside of Evergreen, features a more progressive definition of consent, and includes a section for “Student Rights,” an idea driven almost entirely by student voices.
Unfortunately, that section only contains an anemic and paltry few “rights” when compared to the prior list of standards for student conduct. In fact, it actually features a major constraint. In section V.2., students are explicitly allowed to only file a complaint against another student. Staff, faculty, administration, and other Evergreen community members are left infallible by this document. This could leave students who have been mistreated or abused by these groups no recourse to seek justice.
With small victories taken into account, there is much more for students to be upset with and continue organizing against. Still included in the Standards for Student Conduct are demands that further erode student freedom and rights as well as students’ ability to protest.
According to this latest iteration, students can still be disciplined for failing to be truthful or forthcoming to any college official (which, if “college official” includes police, violates the Fifth Amendment), failure to comply with directions of members of the college community, intentional harm to self (which would technically make smoking a conduct code violation), possession of a replica of a firearm (a toy gun), and failing to intervene with a violation (which students have dubbed “the snitches’ clause”). All of these sections have comments next to them stating they are pending input from the Attorney General.
Also remaining in place is the Vice President of Student Affairs’ role as “The Decider” who is alone in possessing the power to determine whether conduct off campus should be punished by the code of conduct.
Finally, in the proposed Code of Conduct, if a student violates a civil or criminal law, “[d]eterminations made or Required Corrective Actions shall not be subject to change because criminal charges arising out of the same facts giving rise to the violation of the Code were dismissed, reduced, or resolved in favor of or against the criminal law defendant.” What this means is you can be found not guilty in a federal court and guilty in the college’s process of the same alleged infraction at the same time.
The dtf has set a timeline for finalizing the proposed Code in May of this year and is slated to seek additional input from the Evergreen community in April. To view a draft of the proposed code online, go to www.evergreen.edu/committee/studentconduct