As last semester drew to a close and students packed their bags, members of Students for a Democratic Society finally got the news they - and others in the Brown community - had been anticipating for months.
Seven of the eight students charged for their roles in SDS's heated protest of the October meeting of the Corporation received minor punishments from a University Disciplinary Council panel. One student was cleared of all charges.
The convicted students have been placed on probation for three semesters - except those who will graduate earlier - and will each be required to perform 50 hours of community service this semester. Their parents were notified of the charges and punishments, according to SDS members.
Four of the students must write a 10- to 15-page research paper on university governance, and one will write an additional paper about privacy. Each student will have the disciplinary action recorded on his or her internal University file, but the entry will be removed upon graduation.
The group members consider the punishments to be slight - they had been told that suspension or expulsion were possible - and remain far from apologetic. "We still maintain that we didn't do anything that deserved sanctions," said SDS member Sophia Lambertsen '11, one of the seven convicted students. "The folks that are responsible for us being sanctioned should be ashamed of themselves."
The convicted students have appealed the panel's decision to the Office of the Provost.
The eight SDS members faced disciplinary action after members of the group tried to enter University Hall while it was closed during the Corporation meeting. They met resistance from Department of Public Safety officers and others, three of whom, administrators said, sustained minor injuries during the encounter.
Partway through the Saturday morning meeting in October, protesters charged the building with an extension ladder, while others rushed the door. Eight made it inside University Hall and up the stairs to just outside the room where the meeting was being held but were not permitted to enter. Chancellor Thomas Tisch '76 stepped out of the meeting and accepted a petition from the students enumerating their concerns about the Corporation's exclusive decision-making procedures and lack of transparency.
All seven of the students were found guilty of Offense IX of the Standards of Student Conduct, which proscribes a "violation of operational rules governing various offices, departments and facilities of the University." Six were also found guilty of Offense II.a, which prohibits "actions that result in or can be reasonably expected to result in physical harm."
The students had also been charged with other violations, including failing to present identification and interfering with the rights of others and educational functions of the University, but they were cleared of those charges by the disciplinary panel that heard their case.
One student, James Stefano '11, was found not guilty on all counts after he was able to produce witnesses who verified that he had been on the Main Green while students were inside and had not attempted to enter University Hall.
The case was heard by a UDC panel, consisting of students, faculty and administrators. The panel was scheduled to hear the case from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 9, but ended up continuing proceedings late into the night and reconvening the next morning. The UDC panel then deliberated, and the students received its verdicts Dec. 17.
According to University policy, students may appeal any disciplinary action if they believe there has been a procedural error in the handling of the case or if there is new information pertaining to the case that was not available at the time of the hearing. Appeals are handled by the Office of the Provost.
The SDS members have submitted a five-page motion to appeal in which they present a "laundry list of issues" they claim affected their ability to defend themselves in the manner guaranteed by University code, according to the document. Among the claims made in the appeal are that the Office of Student Life did not meet specific deadlines in handling the case and that an attempt to bar a UDC member, who the students believed would not be impartial, was improperly rejected.
Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 declined to comment on the appeal because it is currently under review.
Now that the disciplinary proceedings have concluded, SDS members said they look forward to refocusing their efforts after months of preparing for the hearing. Though they said the University and Corporation seem to be taking questions about governance more seriously, SDS members plan on "making sure the Corporation and administration doesn't take token gestures" and expect them to be enough, said SDS member Vale Cofer-Shabica '09, who was among those sanctioned.
The Corporation will meet again in February, when it will set the University budget for the next fiscal year. SDS members are working on a campaign to stress that "the financial crisis is hitting students and families really hard, probably a lot harder than it's hitting Brown," said Mike da Cruz '09, another of the seven sanctioned students.