U. committees flood campus with proposals and propositions

Bethel High School '92 Bethel, Conn. It sometimes seems that for each and every student at the University, there is a committee, commission, task force or panel out to improve things. This past year alone has seen the activation, action and deactivation of committees with names as cumbersome as their tasks. Take the Judicial Inquiry Office Evaluation Committee, for example. Or the Consultative Committee for the Selection of a President. Or the committee that has perhaps made the most waves on campus this year, the Commission on Strengthening the Community. The two events brought the issues of free speech, civility and racial tension on campus into the national spotlight. The Commission's task was "to evaluate University core community values including diversity, free speech and civility; to look at race relations and all inter-person" relations on campus. Although this might seem like quite a daunting task, the 22-member commission solicited advice from all areas of the University, drew up a preliminary report by February, solicited feedback on that report, and submitted its final recommendations by April. Among the most dramatic of the Commission's recommendations were the abolishment of the University's racial harassment hate-speech code, the randomization of freshman year housing assignments, and the assessment of faculty committment to campus life as a criterion for promotion and salaries. In the interest of creating a more unified undergraduate community, the Commission also recommended that no fraternity or sorority rush be held until at least the second semester of freshman year. Fagin, Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson and Executive Vice President Janet Hale recently responded to the Commission's final report with a document explaining the University's implementation of some recommendations. In response to the Commission's recommendation that "student speech, as such, should not be the basis of disciplinary action," the administrators pointed to a three-pronged effort including a new Code of Student Conduct, a new Code of Academic Integrity and the implementation of a new student judicial system. In response to the Commission's suggestion that the University build a coffee house or gathering place on Locust Walk open to all members of the University community, Fagin, Lazerson and Hale promised to build an extension to The Book Store which will house a coffee shop. Many of the Commission's recommendations, however, will not be implemented by this year's interim administration and will be handled in the upcoming year by newly-appointed President Judith Rodin and Provost Stanley Chodorow. Fagin said she is confident that Rodin and Chodorow will have no problem implementing the remainder of the Commission's plans.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.