News-Letter

After weeks of fiery debate and student protests, the University has "substantially reduced" junior Justin Park's punishment for a racially insensitive party invitation, according to an educational rights organization.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevents both Park and Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell, who heard the appeal, from commenting on the decision. However, Park told the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which advocated on his behalf, that he was satisfied with the results, according to a FIRE press release.

Before the appeal, the University Conduct Board, composed of staff, faculty and students, suspended Park until Spring 2008 and also ordered him to read and write papers on a list of books chosen by the board.

Park said he was unclear on his future plans and whether or not he will return to the Homewood Campus. He plans to spend the spring in New Zealand doing an agricultural and horticultural internship.

In a note recently posted to the Facebook group "We Support Students Rights (JHU doesn't)," Park thanked those who supported his appeal and expressed his regrets about the situation as well as his hopes for change at Hopkins.

"This has been an incredible, eye-opening learning experience; and if it has resulted in one positive thing, it is the revelation of the underlying problems facing not only the Johns Hopkins University community, but our entire society as a whole," he wrote.

The Hopkins Black Student Union, which responded to the party invitation with passionate protests and demands for action, is now working with the administration to increase diversity awareness on campus.

Junior Fallon Ukpe, BSU admissions chair, said, "We're working on putting [initiatives] together

and we're talking with and giving ideas to the administration. ... We're trying to make something happen that will be beneficial for the entire campus community."

She encouraged students to learn from what happened: "We [should] all examine ourselves and ... make sure that we're making good efforts to our great campus community."

FIRE has been following Park's story since the notorious party in October, and though the organization was pleased at the reduced sentence, they worry that any such punishment threatens free speech on college campuses.

"Over the past year, Johns Hopkins has shown a complete disregard for basic rights," FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said in a press release on Jan. 8.

"The university's treatment of Justin Park ... was simply unconscionable. In the coming year, FIRE will be watching Hopkins closely to see if it lives up to its promises of free speech and open inquiry."

Sanctions placed on the Sigma Chi Fraternity were not appealed. The Conduct Board placed the fraternity on social probation until January 2008, ordered them to add four adult advisors -- two alumni and two non-alumni -- to hold four cultural events and to add a diversity education program to its new members program. After the probation ends they are required to follow the University's party registration procedure in the future."[Sigma Chi] has made some progress. They held their first event back in December; they did a concert with Peabody featuring artists from various ethnicities and backgrounds. There was a good turnout from Peabody, and they advertised with the student population," Rob Turning, director of Greek Life, said.

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