The contest for the three College representatives on the University Judiciary Committee is often among the least discussed of the many student elections. This likely is because of the nature of UJC's work, which is relatively straightforward and generally takes place outside public view. Yet as the polls open today, the Managing Board encourages students to consider voting for three second-year students who have shown an understanding of the internal reforms needed to keep UJC functioning in its role as the enforcer of the University's Standards of Conduct.
Emily Forrester is one such candidate who has run a campaign focused on education and outreach. The former issue especially is pressing given UJC's non-adherence to precedent when deciding cases. This approach requires that judges be well-informed about UJC's constitution, bylaws and the Standards of Conduct - a level of knowledge that is particularly daunting for those serving on the associated First Year Judiciary Committee. This body is supposed to allow for the trial of first-year students by their peers in a less intimidating setting than when facing the greater UJC, but its judges often have struggled to master the body's internal procedures. To address this problem, Forrester has proposed providing first-year judges with more intensive instruction to prepare them for the rigors of trying cases.
Charity Harrell is also impressive, having included in her proposals a plan to add a 13th Standard of Conduct that explicitly would prohibit hate speech. This certainly warrants consideration given that there have been several incidents at the University in recent years in which minorities have been the targets of abuse. In particular, a case that took place last spring in which two female University students were verbally assaulted with racial epithets on the Corner refocused attention on this issue. UJC lacks specific jurisdiction with regard to the incident because the Standards of Conduct do not mention hate speech, a loophole that Harrell's plan would close.\nFinally, Hannah Morgan has emphasized UJC's potential as an advocacy force as well as a judicial body. Specifically, she cited a statistic showing that 78 percent of the cases that come before UJC involve male defendants, a disproportionately high figure considering that the University's undergraduate student body is only 44 percent male. Her campaign has looked at ways to fight the gender gap so that UJC would be seen as trying to prevent destructive behavior from occurring rather than merely punishing it after the fact.
All three candidates expressed a desire to update UJC's constitution to give special protection status to "gender identity." This is a praiseworthy goal since it would expand further the protective umbrella of UJC's internal guidelines. The candidates also stressed the need to increase diversity among the holders of UJC's judgeships. Although UJC's recruitment of support officers achieved demographic parity with the University student body during the past two years, minorities continue to be underrepresented among UJC's judges. UJC must rectify this situation if it is to maintain legitimacy among minority students in the future.
When students begin voting today, they will be asked to select candidates for a variety of legislative and judicial bodies. Although the issues at hand may seem too complex or insignificant to merit the attention of students who are already overwhelmed with academic and extracurricular responsibilities, electoral participation is crucial to furthering the University's tenet of student self-governance. By choosing the right leaders, students have the opportunity to improve the quality of life at the University not only for themselves but also for future classes.
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