Verdicts and Sanctions Announced

On Monday evening, the 14 accused students received letters from the administration officials who had held their hearings. These hearings consisted of one-on-one, closed door meetings with either the Dean of Students or his designated representative. Accused students were not permitted to bring faculty advocates, student supporters, or anyone else to accompany them. Supporters were kept outside the Student Life Offices; in some cases faculty members from barred from even entering the buildings where the hearings were taking place. Nor were students allowed any witnesses in these "hearings." Even so, some of them took as long as 90 minutes.

Some but not all of the students have shared the letters they received from university officials announcing their verdicts and sanctions. It is unsurprising that these patently unfair proceedings--which are standard operating procedure described in Fordham's Student Handbook--seem to have resulted in "convictions" on all counts.

The good news is that none of the students have been expelled. However, they have been subjected to a laundry list of sanctions. Some seem clearly designed to prevent future demonstrations, especially between now and commencement, but in some cases for all of next year. Many require students to write letters of apology to the Public Safety Officers whose violations of university procedures were themselves a major cause of the conflict the students are being punished for. Some inform students that their parents will be informed of their actions--which an attorney has warned could be a violation of the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). And--in a move one Fordham student (not one of the students being sanctioned) described as reminiscent of their experience in middle school--others require students to write "research essays" on topics such as demonstration policies at other institutions and ways of organizing non-violent demonstrations.

We're sharing this information in a way that avoids identifying specific verdicts and sanctions with specific students. For that reason, below are two lists. The first is a list of policies that the Dean of Students or his designated representative determined that students violated. The second is a list of sanctions imposed on students. They are lists drawn from multiple student letters; neither is a list specific to an individual student.

Policies the Dean or representative determined were violated

• Recording: Audio/Photograph and Video.
• Violation of University Regulations Related to Physical Abuse.
• Failing to comply with the direction of clearly identified University personnel (this includes campus security guards) in the performance of their assigned duties.
• Disorderly Conduct.
• Unauthorized Entry.
• Conduct which threatens or endangers the health or safety of any person.
• Engaging in or inciting others to engage in conduct which interferes with or disrupts any University function, or which prevents or limits the free expression of the ideas of others, or which physically obstructs or threatens to obstruct or restrain other members of the University community or visitors.
• Demonstration Policy.

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Sanctions imposed

[Slight variations within a punishment are noted in square brackets]

• University Disciplinary Probation: effective immediately and until the last day of your matriculation at Fordham University [or in some cases till May 31, 2018]. Please be advised that the terms of this sanction dictate that you will not represent the University in extracurricular activities or run for or hold office in any student group or organization. Please contact me regarding the details of how this sanction will affect your particular involvement in any extracurricular activities. Please be advised that further violations of the University Code of Conduct or Residential Life policy could result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
• Student Life Probation: Effective immediately and until May 31, 2018. Please be advised that further violations of the University Code of Conduct or Office of Residential Life policies on- or off-campus may result in further and more serious sanctions, including University Disciplinary Probation.
• Suspension of Privileges: you are not eligible to participate in any non-academic activities taking place on Fordham University property or in Senior Week activities with the provisional exception of the University Commencement exercises and your diploma ceremony [and for Rose Hill students, Encaenia]. Though all students, faculty, and staff agree to abide by our community’s standards at the moment they enter Fordham property and/or accept admission or employment at the University, this incident and your role in it has cast your understanding of this critical expectation in some doubt. Therefore, participation in these events listed above will be contingent upon your affirmative agreement to abide by all elements of the University Code of Conduct and University Regulations including the Demonstration Policy for the remainder of your matriculation as a Fordham student and continuing through any post-baccalaureate affiliations or return to campus. If you intend to attend these events, please send your request along with written confirmation of your agreement to these conditions to the Office of the Dean of Students …. no later than end of business Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Violation of your agreement to abide by the University Code of Conduct and University Regulations may result in immediate removal from campus, access restriction, and/or suspension or expulsion from the University.
• Apology Letter: the surprise attempt to gain access to private office areas of Cunniffe House in which you participated on April 27, 2017 threatened and endangered the health or safety of members of the community as evidenced by the injuries to four persons employed by the University during the incident. As a condition of this sanction, you are to provide a formal, typewritten, printed, and signed apology letter to the staff of the Department of Public Safety for your role in this incident and its unfortunate results. This apology letter is due to the Office of the Dean of Students no later than end of business Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
• Research Paper: Please produce a 5 page typewritten research paper on policies related to demonstration and protests adopted by colleges and universities in the United States. This paper should compare and contrast the policies of at least 5 institutions and range from those that are restrictive in nature to those that are more permissive. Please provide your 5 institutions for approval before May 30, 2017 to ensure uniqueness. At least 10 sources (5 of them the institution’s documents) should be used and properly footnoted in the body of the paper along with relevant links/URLs. This paper is due June 1, 2017. [Some students are required to compare and contrast 10 institutions rather than 5, and to cite 15 sources instead of 10]
• [A variation on the] Research Paper: Please produce a 5 page typewritten research paper on “best practice” and safety strategies employed by organizers planning and coordinating non-violent demonstrations and protests to take place in municipalities, colleges, and universities. The paper should take a particular look at promising practices related to coordination with administration, public safety, and/or police. Please include at least 10 sources properly footnoted in the body of the paper along with relevant links/URLs. This paper is due June 1, 2017.
• Mandatory Meeting with Dean of Students for Additional Review and Training on the University Demonstration Policy:  You must schedule a meeting with Christopher Rodgers, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students no later than September 1, 2017. This meeting must take place no later than October 1, 2017.
• Parent Notification: Please be advised that I will be notifying your parents about this violation of policy.  Please consider making contact with your parents to speak with them regarding this incident.  Please notify me if you are registered with the University as independent. A copy of this letter will be sent to your parents.
• Parent notification (different version): Please be advised that I will be notifying your parents about this violation of policy. Please consider making contact with your parents to speak with them regarding this incident. Please notify me if you are registered with the University as independent. A copy of this letter will be sent to your parents.

Also: Failure to complete these sanctions may result in further and more severe disciplinary measures up to and including suspension or expulsion from the University.

Or: Failure to complete these sanctions may result in further and more severe disciplinary measures up to and including suspension or expulsion from the University. For more information regarding the conduct process, please refer to the Student Handbook (online at www.fordham.edu/studenthandbook).