News-Letter

Members of the Student Council (StuCo) expressed frustration with some of the University's newest policies concerning equality and respect in the workplace -- including those endorsed by President William Brody himself -- in a meeting with members of the administration Tuesday night.

The council met with administrators to discuss alleged ambiguities of the Principles for Ensuring Equity, Civility and Respect policy endorsed by Brody and the Johns Hopkins Committee on the Status of Women.

Several members said the principles were too vague and did not address the issue thoroughly, especially with respect to protecting free speech.

"These rules are too unclear," sophomore class president Prasanna Chandrasekhar said. "Rude and disrespectful -- what does that mean?"

In a letter sent in Dec. to Susan Boswell, dean of Student Life, the Student Council expressed their confusion with the policy.

"How ought a student act in order to abide by this code? A student feels pressured to avoid communicating any idea that could be considered offensive in any way to anyone at any time ... this is counterintuitive to the nature of a research university, which should be a source of free, independent thought," Student Council said in its letter.

"[We're here] to discuss the importance of freedom of expression for a research institute, and the need to insure a context in which free discussion and debate can take place," Knapp said. "[The principles] are really a set of aspirations of community, the kind of community we're trying to create here at Johns Hopkins, so we can have a pursuit of inquiry."

Members of the council were satisfied with the meeting.

"I feel like this has been very productive and illuminating," said Student Council President Laura Hansell. "I really feel like [the administrators] were listening to us, not just talking."

Student Council members expressed their opinions about the policy throughout the meeting.

"One main question is rudeness versus racism," another council member said. "Where's the line that you draw that equals harassment?"

The new principles are the basis for future policies and plans in hopes of promoting equity, equality, civility, and respect at Hopkins and throughout Baltimore. A commission chaired by Vice President of Human Resources Charlene Hayes and Chairman of the Department of Medicine Myron Weisfeldt has been organized to implement these principles.

"It's difficult to develop specific guidelines on rudeness, but there is common sense. We have to choose what's rude, disrespectful, and civil. That's our starting place," Hayes said.

"This Commission is nothing proscribed, it's all an open discussion, getting as much input as we can from all across the university," Hayes said. "We want to make an action plan. This might include the development of different policies, and diversity training ... We want to develop a ... plan that will bring these principles to life."

Most students believe this new policy to be a reaction to the controviersial Sigma Chi "Halloweend in the Hood" party, for which a Facebook invitation was found to invoke racial stereotypes. However, the new principles have been in order for some time.

"This commission is a result of the recommendation of the Committee on the Status of Women," Hayes said. "The timing made it relevant to the fraternity incident."

President Brody received Vision 2020, the Johns Hopkins University Report on the Status of Women from the Committee on the Status of Women, and believed that "the principles seemed something that would apply not only to the Committee on the Status of Women, but also to the fraternity incident," Hayes said. "The principles were pulled from Vision 2020, because it's timely and relevant to issues we're facing right now."

Some administrators expressed hope that the principles would affect the way members of the Hopkins community treat one another.

"Even if we don't agree, at least we can have civil conversation," said Ralph Johnson, associate dean of Student Affairs and director of Multicultural Student Affairs.

"No policy is going to be satisfactory to everybody," said Provost Knapp. "Some people will think we're going too far, some too little, no matter what the policy is. Any kind of issue that affects people, not every group is going to agree with it, but I think it's important that there's an open process in developing these policies to make sure that everyone's views get heard."

Student Council's frustrations centered on five of the principles established by the policy:

1. rude, disrespectful behavior is unwelcome and will not be tolerated


2. every member of the community will be held accountable for creating a welcoming workplace for all


3. the University will not tolerate exclusion based on gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression


4. the University will not pay lower salaries to women and people of color simply because they are women and people of color


5. the University will not sacrifice the health of our employees and their families in its pursuit of excellence.

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