Sunday, November 27, 2005

UNCG Administation's unconstitutional punishment of students

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From the Student-Customer Rights Campaign @ UNCG Original Source
-----Original Message----- From: LPNC@yahoogroups.com [mailto:LPNC@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Allison Jaynes Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 11:56 AM To: LPNC@yahoogroups.com Subject: [LPNC] UPDATE: free speech zone issue So, here's the latest: Rob and I each got an emailed summons to appear at a "pre-hearing conference" (similar to an arraignment) tomorrow at 10am. This is where we will plead guilty or not guilty and set up a date for a hearing which may include a "jury" (basically a board of appointed employees, NOT a jury of our peers). According to the Student Code of Conduct, our penalties can range from a warning to probation with restrictions. They have done all kinds of crazy stuff along with this such as:
  • Gave us 4 business HOURS of notice before the pre-hearing conference since they emailed us at 2pm Tuesday, when the university closes for the whole week Tues at 5pm.
  • Never responded to the email I sent asking for a town hall type meeting during which we could confront the administration about the rules.
  • Again asked for a list of names of those who were present. I refused once more, of course. They are just dying to punish us all. The only reason Rob and I are the ones singled out is because they already knew our names.
I've talked to 3 different FIRE lawyers over the past week and they are behind us 100%. They are in the process of sending a formal letter to several heads at UNCG explaining that their policies are unconstitutional and demanding that they eliminate them and drop any punishment towards us, or else litigation will be pursued. They informed me that the entire UNC system is one of the worst in the country and they will lie at every turn. FIRE said they will blow this thing wide open and said I shouldn't be surprised if reporters start calling me. I am absolutely confident that we will bring UNCG down on this issue. And help the plight of freedom-minded students at other schools in the UNC system. And I just want to re-emphasize that it couldn't have been done without the full support of the wonderful libertarians on this list who took off an entire workday to drive all the way over here and help us out. -Allison Jaynes UNCG College Libertarians "I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." -Ayn Rand
I don't know about the other people who read this blog or other students who are generally supportive of students' rights, but this seems so off-base and illegal that it almost sounds as though the story is made up, but, of course, I know it isn't. Just a message to those UNCG students trying to get these unconstitutional rules regarding "free speech zones" off the books... please keep me informed of any other protests you might be having. I feel so strongly that these "rules" need to go and feel outright enraged that the University is trying to punish students who did nothing but use their First Amendment rights to peaceful assembly and protest. What the University is doing is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!! ~MATT HILL ====== The Student-Customer Rights campaign @ UNCG is another blog which I run. I originally posted this message there, but thought I would post it here to get out the word about UNCG's unconstitutional treatment of students who were protesting against the unconstitutional rules which are now being used to punish them. UNCG! Wake up before you get sued!!!