On Wednesday, the Council of Graduate Students, or COGS, passed two resolutions regarding anti-discrimination policy and the Department of Police and Public Safety, or DPPS, Oversight Committee.
“Graduate students really do want action,” COGS internal affairs Vice President and graduate student Lynette Guzman said. “We need to push a little bit more, especially with the town halls (meetings) that have been going on and hearing other students’ stories.”
The resolutions come in the wake of recent meetings between students and administration, concerning issues of racial tension and distrust in the faculty on campus.
One resolution, introduced by fisheries and wildlife graduate student Elle Gulotty, suggested administration clarify and streamline sexual assault policy.
The resolution calls for, among other things related to sexual assault, the university to enact new policies requiring faculty who are found in violation of policies by the Office of Institutional Equity be disciplined by a panel, including faculty from other departments and a student voice.
“The resolution is saying ‘look, we want to acknowledge this and figure out where in the system are we trying to address the issues that we’re talking about,” Guzman said.
Guzman said communication between departments is essential and must be improved to better the results for students.
The remaining resolution, introduced by criminal justice graduate student Robert Vankirk, called on the DPPS Oversight Committee to reform a policy centered on all police complaints being filtered through one person, who individually decides whether or not the claim has merit and will be deliberated by the committee.
“The committee has authority to change its own operating procedures,” Vankirk said. “So if they think the concerns are reasonable and they amend their operating procedures to reflect the changes that COGS has asked them to reflect, then it can end there, and we can hopefully see the fruits of the labor.”
Vankirk said the committee’s failings came to his attention recently during town hall meetings where students spoke up and said they had in fact filed complaints to MSUPD, despite no committee meetings having been held to address complaints since 2013.
The COGS resolution calls for DPPS to meet monthly and address all student cases currently waiting to be resolved, and for the merit of a complaint to be determined by the committee rather than the chairperson alone.
“Our goal is to create a functional and real civilian oversight board over the MSUPD, which is mandated by state law,” Vankirk said. “What I would like to see is a responsive oversight board.”
Vankirk said if the committee ignores the resolution and continues to not hold meetings, they will be in violation of state law and liable to the American Civil Liberties Union.
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