SG wants to remove students from grievance council

Student Government voted in favor of barring students from grievance council hearings pertaining to sexual assault Sept. 30 to maintain privacy for students involved in an assault case.

The resolution passed with an overwhelming majority and is expected to take effect this month.

As author of the resolution, SG President Clayton Notestine advocated the legislation.

“This isn’t about power anymore,” he said. “SG usually is all about going and getting students more footholds on campus, but this issue is not about that, it’s about the survivors.”

Notestine also noted that according to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, statistics show students are less inclined to speak out about abuse with students around.

Not all were in favor of this resolution, including SG senator Ronald Tulan who expressed his concerns with the legislation.

“Although they weren’t victims themselves they can relate better than an adult can and I think taking away that relation, taking away that whole, ‘we understand what you’re going through’ is going to put a big harm on the conduct board and a big harm on the interviewing process altogether”.

SG Senator Robert Worthington also opposed the new resolution.

“We should be represented first of all, and then we should be respected well enough to have a vote on something. Just because it’s a serious issue, students shouldn’t be taken off of it and especially because it’s something that can happen to the students as well.”

Members who will replace current student advocates will be qualified counselors trained to handle sexual assault.

“That is not a hope,” Notestine said. “That is a promise, an expectation that is being made by the both the Office of Civil Rights and also Dr. Kaye Patten Wallace’s office.”

The resolution complied with the current campaign SG is working on called It’s On Us, which is, according to its mission statement, “a rally cry inviting everyone to step up and realize that the solution [to sexual assault] begins with us”.

Not all colleges are involved in this campaign, but Notestine expressed how Toledo is at the right point in time to make a motion of this nature.

“The It’s On Us campaign is both a proactive measure but also a reactive measure to the climate that we currently have.”

According to Notestine, this campaign will coincide with the university’s campaign to improve campus life, Not on Our Watch.

SG members were encouraged to make a pledge to promote a stop to sexual assault and change the way sexual assault is thought about.

They were also encouraged to change their social media profile pictures to the It’s On Us logo and ask students and organizations to do so as well.

Worthington also introduced a resolution to wear red tops with white ribbons on Abuse Awareness Day in October.

“What it will do is spread awareness about more close-to-home abuse issues, domestic violence being a big one,” he said. “It has even helped me be a better guy, a better boyfriend, a better man.”