The latest group of students to be elected to the University Judiciary Committee officially took office Friday. The new members must address several important questions pertaining to UJC's role in the community, as well as the part it can play in protecting vulnerable constituencies at the University.
The latter is especially urgent following two anti-Semitic incidents that occurred recently on the Lawn, in addition to the racially-motivated verbal assault of two women on the Corner last spring. As UJC attempts to tackle such issues, its task will be facilitated by efforts to improve the community's understanding of the body through dialogue and debate.
UJC's new chair, third-year College student Victoria Marchetti, indicated she already has several initiatives she would like to undertake that would integrate the body with the wider community. First, she hopes to expand UJC's current program of first-year dorm liaisons to upper class housing. She also wishes to work more closely with the Honor Committee to communicate the differences between the two bodies - namely, that UJC is tasked with enforcing the University's standards of conduct whereas the Honor Committee adjudicates cases involving acts of lying, cheating or stealing that violate the honor code.
More importantly, however, Marchetti said UJC's new members are working to insert special protection based on "gender identity" into the anti-discrimination clause of the body's constitution. This is an attainable goal that would serve as a further deterrent to those who might single out individuals for harassment or harm based upon their gender identities - if a student were found guilty of doing so, the provision would allow for stricter sanctions to be imposed than would be otherwise. Following Student Council's endorsement last week of protection and support for the transgender community, it is encouraging that UJC also seems willing to take this substantive step.
In the hopes of further combatting bias and intimidation at the University, Vice Chair for First Years Charity Harrell also proposed instituting a 13th standard of conduct that would prohibit hate speech. "Due to the confidentiality policy of UJC, I think UJC should consider adding a standard that deals strictly with hate speech," she wrote on her University Board of Elections campaign questionnaire. "Since there have been recent incidences in which students have felt that there was no option for recourse, I think UJC should work towards protecting all students so that every individual feels safe."
Past Supreme Court rulings have disallowed a variety of hate speech limitations on First Amendment grounds, meaning that an additional standard of conduct might not pass constitutional muster or gain the Board of Visitors' approval. UJC should use this issue as an opportunity, however, to foster more public discussion that could result in both greater protections for minorities as well as improved understanding of the body's function.
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