SGA bill stirs up questions

Student Senate debates discrimination clause

The Student Government Association, after much debate, voted to postpone its vote on the Student Bill of Rights and Responsibilities until March 16, allowing senators more time to talk to their constituents.

The bill, which is ment to protect student rights, including protection against discrimination for sexual orientation, would be added to the SGA's Constitution if passed.

Student Body President Levar Stoney, who made this bill part of his presidential platform for the past two years, said the bill is important because it is the "responsibility of the SGA to protect, defend and support the rights of all students within the JMU community."

This bill should be passed because "[the university] lacks the document that protects the rights of all JMU students," he said.

This bill has been worked on for the past year, according to Stoney, while he met with various members of the administration to check on the language of the bill and its content.

Stoney said it is important to have a written document because then it would be part of the SGA forever.

However, not everyone agreed the bill is necessary.

Sophomore Cory Winter, committee chair of student services, said the university handbook already covers and protects student rights and responsibilities. "I have read both (the handbook and the bill) and I can't see much of a difference," Winter said.

He said the SGA should ask the university to clear up the language or add statements to its policy because the "university won't recognize the [SGA Bill of Rights and Responsibilities] because it's not university policy.

"This isn't Taliban University — it's James Madison University," Winter said, referring to his belief that the rights of students are not violated that frequently.

Junior Johnalex Golden, at-large senator, said the bill was necessary because it includes areas that are not mentioned in the handbook.

Article II of the proposed bill states that "students shall not be denied university opportunities based upon race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, national origin or citizenship status, age, disability or veteran status."

The inclusion of sexual orientation, which is not in the handbook, is important, Golden said. "There is absolutely going to be celebrations in the street [if this bill was passed]," he added. Junior Matt Gray, senator of the College of Arts and Letters, said Article II was not consistent with state law, and this later could become a problem because state law overrides any document of the SGA.

More debate erupted over whether the bill would be misleading to students. The SGA — even if it passed the rights — has no jurisdiction over the university to enforce these rights.

"I'm afraid people may feel like we can do more then we can," said junior Lauren Broussard, committee chair of diversity affairs. "I don't want students to believer we can offer things when we can't."

Freshman Ryan Powell, freshman class council president, also agreed that the SGA cannot guarantee these rights by enforcing them at any level and that it can be misleading.

Stoney also agreed that this bill can be a great way to show the administration what the students support, and it will make them more comfortable to change things.

Sophomore Wesli Spencer, sophomore class council president, said this bill would help show that the SGA will take a stance if a students' rights were violated. That student could go to the SGA and, if the SGA agrees that the rights were violated, it would be supportive when the student takes his or her case to the administration.

With so many concerns raised, some members of the SGA questioned whether they were prepared to vote.

Spencer said it would be good for the senators to go to their constituents and find out what they want.
However, some senators argued that the senators had four weeks to do their research and should be ready to make a decision.

"We have a habit of postponing things that take any thought at all," Gray said. "If you are not prepared to vote tonight, you should either abstain or go home."

Junior Ricardo Pineres, senator of Ashby Hall, agreed with Gray. He said the SGA tries too hard to take the most politically correct stance and, instead, each senator should vote as how he or she feels fit.

He said that when it came to voting on such issues as the emergency contraceptive pill and tuition increases, the SGA responded quickly and that is why action happened. Postponing only will make the process more drawn out, he added.

Freshman Kevin Hasser, at-large senator, said the student population does not know enough about this bill for the SGA to be voting on it.

"I want to see it pass, but only if the student body is behind it," Hasser added.

Senior Chris Bast, senator of the College of Arts and Letters, said each senator had enough time to talk to his or her constituents on this bill.

"We've had two weeks since we read this [bill]," he said.

Broussard said the recent debate sparked more questions, and senators should be able to go back to their constituents and reevaluate all of their opinions.

"You are not incompetent because you don't know how to vote," she said. "[The constituents] are worth every minute we can give them."

The Senate voted to postpone the rest of the debate and voting until the March 16 meeting.

Stoney asked that the senators go back to talk to the student body about this bill.

"Remember the task at hand," he said. "I think your constituents will appreciate that."