In the wake of the tragedy at Rutgers University last September, a handful of ASPSU members have taken it upon themselves to address the issue of cyber-bullying at Portland State by adding a clause to the student code of conduct that explicitly forbids such activities.
According to Student Senator Jake Fenski, cyber-bullying is “a pressing issue right now,” and “nobody, especially…students, should have to deal with that.”
On Sept. 22, Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rugters University freshman, commited suicide after his roommate secretly videotaped him with a webcam while he was having sex with another man in their dorm room.
Student Senator Adam Rhamlow believes there needs to be a specific clause in the student code of conduct that addresses cyber-bullying that students cannot miss.
According to Rahmlow, students need to understand that harassment has consequences.
“We’re not going to wait for something to happen at Portland State in order for there to be some kind of code of conduct reform,” Rahmlow said.
As with any high-profile event such as the one at Rutgers, “it calls attention to something that was lacking,” Rahmlow said. After the incident, ASPSU members looked into the student code of conduct and realized that it did not address cyber-bullying.
Student government members believe that this gap is sufficiently large and that PSU, with its distinctively diverse student body, ought to tackle the issue sooner rather than later.
Although Rutgers brought a new level of awareness to cyber-bullying, the idea of amending the student code of conduct to effectively deal with this issue has been in the pipeline for some time.
According to Dementro Powell, PSU’s conduct coordinator, adding a clause to address cyber-bullying has been discussed in the past.
“It is a growing problem across the nation due to how most people communicate using Facebook, Twitter, text, etc.,” Powell said.
According to Powell, other universities have already added such a clause or are now implementing one.
The PSU code of conduct has three different tiers: the Oregon University System general code of conduct, the PSU student code of conduct and the housing code of conduct for students who live on campus. According to Rahmlow, the cyber-bullying clause would likely find its home in the student tier.
“We’re looking for something definitely in the housing [tier], but also in the Portland State student code of conduct,” he said.
While there are sections in the student code of conduct that address student harassment and could conceivably apply to cyber-harassment, Rahmlow said ASPSU members want to ensure that there is a specific clause that reinforces the fact that cyber-harassment is considered as such.
ASPSU plans to work with Dean of Student Life Michelle Toppe to amend the student code of conduct. Toppe, who was unavailable for comment, is on board, Rahmlow said. Although the text of the forthcoming clause has yet to be written, it is no longer a matter of whether the amendment will happen but of when it will happen, according to Rahmlow.
According to Fenski, “At this point we’re working on getting some momentum going” in order to push the clause through the proper institutional channels.
“Adam and I are mainly…working on a resolution,” Fenski said.
If passed by the Student Senate, the resolution would instigate the amendment process.
The student code of conduct is reviewed every three years, Rahmlow said, and therefore cannot keep pace with the ever-changing social context of America’s college campuses.
Within the last several years, students have witnessed the advent of such ubiquitous social networking sites as MySpace and Facebook, in addition to other popular online innovations such as YouTube and Twitter.
“As technology advances, we need to keep our…policy up-to-date,” Fenski said. According to Powell, it would be beneficial to update the code at least every two years in order for it to stay current.
“We might call for the student code of conduct to be amended every year,” Rahmlow said.
This would allow the code to be more responsive to these dynamic changes in technology as they intersect with student life.
“[This] is really important to [ASPSU],” Fenski said. “This is something we’re putting a lot of effort into, and it should be one of many great changes to look forward to in terms of actions taken by the Student Senate this year.” ?