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The Rice Thresher
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by Elizabeth Decker Thresher staff
Acceptable cheers will include old cheers that do not violate the sexual harassment policy as well as new cheers to be developed within the next month. The presidents have been working on the problem of sexually harassing college cheers since the fall in response to a letter drafted by four students expressing their concerns with the sexual language. The letter was submitted to Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho. A contest, funded by an Envision Grant given to the authors of the original complaint, will award money to the authors of the best new inoffensive college cheer at each college. Each college has $133 to award and will decide individually how to award the money. Submissions are due March 16 by e-mail to the respective college presidents. All submissions will be reviewed by the presidents and Associate General Counsel Carlos Garcia prior to judging to ensure compliance with the sexual harassment policy. The winning cheers will be announced the following week by a judging committee appointed in each college by the college president. The new cheers will be posted both in the colleges prior to Beer-Bike and at the track during the event March 31. Jones College senior Michelle Brand, one of the authors of the students' letter of concern, predicted that the adoption of the new cheers may not be immediate, but that they will eventually replace the old cheers. "Because people already know them, they will probably still yell them, but they will never be taught," Brand said of the old cheers. Outgoing Wiess College President Josh Katz said new cheers will replace the current ones within five years. "Things that aren't taught institutionally anymore are going to fade away," Katz, a senior, said. Wiess junior Josh Ginsberg expressed doubt that new cheers will be both popular and in compliance with the sexual harassment policy. "Unless the new cheers are very compelling, I think we'll see the end of cheers," Ginsberg said. Students will be encouraged to use inoffensive cheers at this spring's Beer-Bike and during O-Week to ensure that all students feel included in their college. "There will still be cheers. ... There will still be counter cheers," Katz said. "But they're not going to be sexually harassing and they're not going to alienate people from their college from day one." Will Rice College President Eden King presented the draft of the college cheers policy, which was discussed at college cabinet meetings this. King, a senior, said the presidents plan to give a final draft, which needs Camacho's approval, to him today. The draft states that because "cheers should function to make all members of the college feel included," cheers of a sexual nature and those including profanity should be examined. The first action suggested by the presidents is to determine whether existing college cheers comply with the university's sexual harassment policy. King said the colleges have already completed this first step, and the results will be compared and standardized. Colleges will be allowed to make their own decisions about cheers' profanity, since these things do not necessarily violate the sexual harassment policy. The committee also recommended that the Office of Student Affairs work to educate students about the sexual harassment policy and college cheers. Beer-Bike and O-Week coordinators, the executive boards of college cabinets and the college masters will be updated annually on the sexual harassment policy. There will also be a heavy emphasis on educating people about the sexual harassment policy during O-Week for both coordinators and incoming freshmen, Brand said. "Basically, this whole thing is just so that everybody knows what the guidelines are ... so they are not in violation of them, so they don't get in trouble and so they know what their rights are," King said. The policy said that continuing education about the sexual harassment policy and college cheers will bring about lasting changes in students' attitudes. Hanszen College sophomore Sarah Cloots, an author of the letter of concern, said she was pleased with the draft of the policy. "I hope that it gets implemented in the way that the draft idealizes," she said. "The university has responsibility to not allow sexual harassment, and I think it's good that they're taking their responsibility seriously." Katz said he was pleased the administration has allowed students to handle the issue at the college level. "They really left it to the students and opened a lot of healthy discussion."
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