Justice? We Don't Need No Stinking Justice

Don’t expect equal justice at CS

 

By JP Eichmiller

We are all innocent until proven guilty.

A catchy phrase and one of those inalienable rights we, as Americans believe separate us from the supposedly less civil nations of the world.

It would, however, be wise to drop any such lofty ideals when entering Colorado State University as a student. The fact of the matter is that at CSU, if a student is arrested and/or charged with a crime deemed serious enough by the Director of Judicial Affairs, judgment may be passed long before a person is given a right to defend one’s self in a court of law.

According to the “Students Rights and Responsibilities,” handbook produced by CSU’s Division of Student Affairs: “Upon the filing of charges in the criminal or civil courts involving an offense of a serious nature and an administrative determination that the continued presence of the student would constitute a threat or danger to the University community, such person may be temporarily suspended pending the disposition of charges.”

So there are rules to follow at CSU, and if you slip up and are arrested you may face suspension from school until the matter is resolved in a court of law. Fair or not, rules are rules and everyone involved with the university should be expected to adhere to the same standards, right?

Well, not exactly. In reality, a more apt phrase to follow when adopting the rules followed by students compared to faculty would be: Do as I say, not as I do.

You see, the previously stated rules are set up for student behavior, not that of campus faculty or employees. If a student and a tenured professor are arrested for say, domestic battery on the same day, you can expect the two to follow a much different path.

The differences are immediately recognizable. Under the section, “Initiation of the Discipline Process,” in the student handbook, “The discipline process can be initiated by any member of the University community.”

Compare this to the guidelines regarding tenured faculty. Under section, “E.10.7 Disciplinary Action Towards Tenured Faculty,” of the faculty manual, “Any submission of (the official statement beginning faculty discipline procedures) must be made by a tenured faculty member or group of tenured faculty members of the department, the department head, the college dean, or the Provost…”

This is certainly a higher standard to meet than simply allowing such a serious matter to be started by, “any member of the University community.” It is hard to fathom any student, short of the Governor’s daughter or football coach’s son, being given the same benefit of the doubt as a tenured faculty member.

“E.10.7 takes a long time,” said Paul Bell, CSU’s university grievance officer. “A tenure makes it even more difficult to discipline a faculty member. Once you have a tenure, it is considered a constitutional property right.”

Bell estimated that a tenured faculty member might face such disciplinary proceedings, “once every five years.”
Recent events at CSU back the faults in the system and the disparity in discipline between faculty and students.
In January, according to a story that ran in The Rocky Mountain Collegian, ”Entomology professor Boris Kondratieff was arrested in January on charges of incest and sexually assaulting a child by someone in a position of trust.”

Kondratieff has continued to teach at CSU with another professor present during classes, while receiving the backing and support of other faculty members. The administration obviously feels it would be unfair to make any claims regarding Kondratieff’s guilt or innocence on the matter before it goes before a judge or jury, and that is a fair assumption.

The question is, why are students not being afforded the same rights? Having spoken to numerous students who were suspended from school before being given a chance in the court of law, one fact seems to be clear: The students at CSU are being held to a higher standard than the faculty.

No one is given the right to attend CSU; it is a privilege that is earned. It should not be unreasonable to believe, however, that the rules for attending the institution be uniformly adopted. Unfortunately, what we have now is a microcosm of the privilege system, where the lower class (students) are held to one set of rules, while the ruling class (tenured professors) are held to another