Vox Clamantis
By Ronald Green
Published on Friday, March 30, 2012
To the Editor:
The Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office has charged members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and the fraternity itself in connection with hazing violations during the fall 2011 pledge term. Additionally, this office has charged Andrew Lohse ’12, the student whose initial reports revealed the existence of these noxious practices.
Although I am not privileged to know the details of this inquiry, I am writing to express my conviction, and that of numerous faculty members with whom I have discussed this matter, that punishment should not be meted out to any student involved in this affair who voluntarily stepped forward to report the wrongdoing. Punishing whistleblowers, even those implicated in the events, runs counter to good public policy because it deters those who would report misconduct.
Ronald Green Cohen Professor for the Study of Ethics and Human Values Religion Department
The SAE dilemma represents just one of the many embarrassing cases that the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office pursues at Dartmouth. Students are frequently charged for violations with no proof and are denied proper consultation by their deans who assume guilt before anything else. Every branch of the system is plagued with problems, from shoddy work by Safety & Security officers to incompetent UJAO employees to a COS hearing that is more of a circus than a serious trial. Currently the UJAO wants to charge as many students with violations as possible in order to justify their jobs and the existence of the office. Lives are ruined and our campus becomes less safe.
If Professor Green and other faculty members care about students, then they will pass a resolution to immediately disband the UJAO and end the immoral COS process before more innocent students have their lives ruined by over-zealous administrators. Let’s put a system in place where students are given help for their problems, not punished for them. Professor Green has taken the lead on demanding budget details from President Kim in the past. It is now time for him to round up the faculty and end the UJAO.
By Big Picture on Mar 30 | 1:59 am
Prof. Green, if a student in your class came to you and said that he and 10 of his classmates had been cheating, would you let him off the hook with no consequences? If you cannot honestly say “yes,” then your point above is void.
By Alum on Mar 30 | 10:11 am
“punishment should not be meted out to any student involved in this affair who voluntarily stepped forward to report the wrongdoing.”
That is an absurd principle. I’d hope for better from Dartmouth’s ethics professor. Should Lohse’s…ahem…confessions mitigate his alleged crimes? Maybe. But blanketledy absolve him? No.
What if Lohse caused a bunch of pledges to harm themselves? What if he himself was the primary culprit? SHould he be absolved because he found a way to profit from his crimes by writing a memoir or selling his story for notoriety in Rolling Stone? Now, he steps forward and confesses that he hazed other students, but he he doesn’t deserve any according repercussions? But other students do?
WHat if Lohse and three classmates beat up a freshman and then Lohse confessed? WHat if it was all Lohse’s idea? What if he inflicted the greatest harm? What if Lohse was the only one to commit any harm? WHat if Lohse promoted drug use and underage drinking? What if Lohse and three pals assault a campus S&S officer? If he confesses first, does he win immunity?
These aren’t mere hypotheticals. These are flaws in Professor Cohen’s ridiculous letter.
By bill 09 on Mar 30 | 12:20 pm