|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Rice Thresher
Phone:
|
by Rachel Rustin Thresher staff The formal complaint filed to the administration addressing college cheers is being investigated by a committee of students. Composed of the college presidents, including a representative from Martel College, and Student Association President Lindsay Botsford, the committee has met with Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho, Associate General Counsel Carlos Garcia and the four students who filed the complaint. The students who filed the complaint came away from the meeting looking forward to the changes that are ahead. "Everyone wanted to talk about how we should make change, not if we should make change," Baker College senior Alexis Wiesenthal, one of the complainants, said. "They were looking to us as resources and not as enemies." The letter, which was addressed to President Malcolm Gillis, Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho and the Rice community, called for university action against sexually explicit college cheers. The letter gave examples of cheers that the letter's authors felt were in violation of Rice's sexual harassment policy. Much of the future discussion will be lead by the college presidents. Jones College senior Michelle Brand, one of the students who filed the complaint, said she feels that the college presidents are the right group of people to do the job because they will be the ones enacting the changes. Brown College President Timothy Werner agrees. "I think the college presidents realize the gravity of the situation and are willing to protect the interests of all students - both those issuing the complaint and those who ardently oppose any changes," Werner, a senior, said. "I think the presidents realize this issue is not going to go away and that we are the best group of students to tackle this problem and coordinate a university-wide response." Changes will begin next semester, when campus-wide forums and a cheer-writing contest will be held. "As much as we'd like to address the complaint promptly, in order for it to be effective, it's going to have to happen next semester," Botsford, a Wiess College junior, said. The goal of the contest, which will occur at the start of the semester, is to encourage students to come up with non-harassing cheers. It will probably be run by each of the colleges. Baker sophomore Kevin Duh, another student who helped file the complaint, believes this will give students an extra sense of ownership of the new cheers. "[Rice students] could come up with some witty cheers," Duh said. "Hopefully, people will like those cheers better than the old ones and just use [the new ones]. Hopefully, next Orientation Week, fewer people will be offended." The presidents are beginning discussions about the possibility of change by this spring's Beer-Bike. By then, the cheers contest will have been held and each college will have new cheers to teach and perform. However, no decisions about cheers at Beer-Bike have been reached. Botsford has high hopes for the process and the response from students on campus. "I hope that while everyone might not be widely in favor of it at first, that gradually new traditions will start and a more respectful climate will kind of happen naturally. I know none of us want to do anything drastic, and we realize that all of this is going to have to be gradual," Botsford said. Until the changes are made, the presidents will continue to work with other members of the student body in order to find a solution to the complaint about college cheers. "My goal, as well as the goal of the other presidents, is to open a dialogue on sexual harassment issues," Werner said. "The most important thing is for this situation to remain in students' hands. If the administration were to swoop in and take over this process, no one would be satisfied with the outcome."
- back - |
|
|
Search the Thresher pages:
This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of: The Rice Thresher, Rice University MS-524, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA. The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu |
