SGA begins work on Bill of Rights
Michael Brophy
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: News
Students called for it in the open forum on Monday, April 13. Colby United included it in a list of demands on Tuesday, April 14. Bro Adams endorsed it at his forum on Wednesday, April 15. In response to the outcry from the College community following the Easter weekend events, the Student Government Association (SGA) held a brainstorming and discussion forum on Sunday, April 19 to begin to outline "it"-Colby's Student Bill of Rights.
Talk of a Colby Student Bill of Rights has been around for years and after the events of the week many students, the administration and SGA believe it is time to create one. President-elect Jake Fischer '10 said, "we should not look at this through a lens of what happened last weekend. [The Bill of Rights] should be
universal and stand the test of time."
At the meeting on Sunday, SGA members fleshed out their ideas on large pieces of paper hanging on the wall with titles of the issues they want the bill to address, like "Academic Rights," "Expression Responsibilities" and "Disciplinary Process Rights." SGA members then broke into small groups, each taking a sheet from the wall, and organizing what they thought were the most important issues to be addressed within each category. Afterward, each group presented its ideas and the floor opened for discussion and debate.
SGA invited representatives from the newly formed Student Leadership Collaborative Committee, the leaders of Colby United and members of the Committee on Race and Racism as well as the Pugh Community Board executive board. None of these groups took SGA up on the offer.
The goal of the bill, said SGA President Patrick Boland, is to "give students a framework for their rights" as members of the College. "We have a handbook that says what we can't do, where's the document that says what we can do?"
Fisher added, "We need to get everyone on the same page so students know how they can and should act. If we have it down in words, if a student feels violated, he or she can have a written document that is understood and accepted by all of Colby."
SGA hopes to have a working draft of the proposed Bill of Rights by the end of the year so that, hopefully, they will be able to approve it and put it into action next fall.
The bill would be a document signed and accepted by the student body, faculty and administration.
Talk of a Colby Student Bill of Rights has been around for years and after the events of the week many students, the administration and SGA believe it is time to create one. President-elect Jake Fischer '10 said, "we should not look at this through a lens of what happened last weekend. [The Bill of Rights] should be
universal and stand the test of time."
At the meeting on Sunday, SGA members fleshed out their ideas on large pieces of paper hanging on the wall with titles of the issues they want the bill to address, like "Academic Rights," "Expression Responsibilities" and "Disciplinary Process Rights." SGA members then broke into small groups, each taking a sheet from the wall, and organizing what they thought were the most important issues to be addressed within each category. Afterward, each group presented its ideas and the floor opened for discussion and debate.
SGA invited representatives from the newly formed Student Leadership Collaborative Committee, the leaders of Colby United and members of the Committee on Race and Racism as well as the Pugh Community Board executive board. None of these groups took SGA up on the offer.
The goal of the bill, said SGA President Patrick Boland, is to "give students a framework for their rights" as members of the College. "We have a handbook that says what we can't do, where's the document that says what we can do?"
Fisher added, "We need to get everyone on the same page so students know how they can and should act. If we have it down in words, if a student feels violated, he or she can have a written document that is understood and accepted by all of Colby."
SGA hopes to have a working draft of the proposed Bill of Rights by the end of the year so that, hopefully, they will be able to approve it and put it into action next fall.
The bill would be a document signed and accepted by the student body, faculty and administration.
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