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Greensboro, N.C.
Volume 92, Issue 21
www.guilfordian.com
March 31, 2006
Campus Life revamps sexual conduct policy
Handbook changes pending Community Senate approval
Mesan Feil
Senior Writer
The Guilford College
Handbook gives students no defi
nition of consent in relation to sex
ual conduct, which poses a prob
lem in judicial cases and the com-
mimity's role in preventing sexual
misconduct.
"Usually these cases are really
emotional and not always clear-
cut," said Alyson Kienle, Associate
Dean for Campus Life.
"Sometimes it comes down to
beheving one student over anoth
er."
Kienle, along with the rest of
the Campus Life staff, created a
list of proposed changes, includ
ing defining consent, for the 2006-
07 handbook. These items are
pending approval at the April 5
Senate meeting.
The new definition of consent
for the handbook gives examples
of what does not count as consent
- silence, implied approval based
on previous actions, and anything
said imder the influence of alcohol
or other drugs.
The current handbook's only
reference to consent states only
one of these cases: "Consent can
not be legally given when alcohol
or other drugs have been con
sumed."
The Guilford community
expressed concern in reaction to
assault incidents on campus,
prompting a desire to re-define
consent.
"If the pohcy only said consent
is not given by saying 'no', varia
tions in how people respond to
stress in sexual situations are
being ignored," said Kathryn
Schmidt, Assistant Professor of
Sociology and Anthropology and
Director of Women's Studies.
Two students, Tim Scales and
Andy Freedman, created a group
for men to help end sexual vio
lence on campus.
"I feel hke men are indoctrinat
ed with the message that our sex
uality is a form of oppression
against women. This needs to be
redefined through the issue of
consent, which is what our
group hopes to do," Freedman
said.
A group of students involved
in the Women's Studies program,
including Leise Gergely (Hall
Director for Shore hall), organized
the "Take Back the Night" event on
March 23. The event focused on
asserting women's power in a
Shirts hang in the Greenleaf with statements of hope regarding rape recovery. Continued on page 2
CCE SGA elections hurt by technical difficulties
Ben Dedman
Staff Writer
The CCE Student Government
Association (SGA) held an executive board
meeting on March 26 to discuss their recent
elections, which was the first time CCE stu
dents could vote for their SGA officers
online.
The elections were originally scheduled
for March 12-18, but the process
encountered difficulties, so the voting
was postponed until March 14 and ended
on March 20. The main order of business at
the SGA meeting was discussing the prob
lems that the election process e
ncountered, and brainstorming ways to
avoid these problems in the future.
"We help to work as a liaison between
the students and the administration," said
senior Larry Draughn, the CCE SGA's
current publicity officer. The SGA works
alongside the administration to ensure that
major decisions on campus are made
with CCE students in mind. Among the
major duties of the SGA are organized
events for CCE students, such as getting
food for the Homecoming cookout,
Valentine's Day Dance, and the CCE
banquet, which will be held on
April 22. They also work in
conjunction with the Strategic Long-Term
Planning Committee and the CCE
administrative
oversaw the
elections, and
SGA coordinated
with Teresa
Sanford
IT&S to
with the
gramming
set-up of
tronic
The
and
help
pro-
and
elec
voting,
election
Fliers were placed
Floydricka Pettress, Kecia Boyd, Larry Draughn, Lora Robbins
staff to ensure that
adult students
have a say in
Guilford's
important daily
decisions.
The CCE SGA
typically does not
coordinate with
Community
Senate, the tradi
tional students'
government.
Lakecia Boyd,
SGA President,
process raised
concerns from
many CCE stu
dents and mem
bers of the SGA,
including Felicia Komegay, who was on the
ballot for SGA President.
"There are aspects of the 2006 CCE SGA
election that cause major ethical concerns,"
Komegay said. "This election process is
counter to Guilford College's core values of
community, diversity, integrity, justice,
equality and stewardship."
The SGA executives do recognize that
there is room for improvement of the elec
tronic voting process. "We tested this thing
several times," Boyd said. "There were con
cerns that arose beyond our control and
foresight."
These concerns included technical diffi
culties with Internet links, the fact that can-
in Hendricks Hall to publicize the election.
didates for the elections could run for mul
tiple offices at once, and insufficient public
ity for the elections.
"The SGA began publicity for the elec
tions in January," Boyd said.
"Announcements were placed on the stu
dent Buzz, and flyers distributed around
campus and placed in Hendricks Hall
throughout the spring semester."
Komegay said, "It has been observed
that the system also allows CCE students to
vote more than once. This will skew the vot
ing outcome."
"One person voted 31 times," Boyd said.
Boyd emphasized that extra votes were dis
continued on page 2