Student Bill of Rights nears adoption

ASMSU’s new Student Bill of Rights faces one last hurdle before its formal incorporation into the student Code of Conduct.

The bill was written to inform students of their rights on campus, according to ASMSU Chief Justice Amanda Haab. “[Say] the vibe is off with a faculty member. A student feels like something is wrong, but they don’t know how to put words to it. Now they have access to a resource to talk about if their rights have been violated, and what their next steps would be,” she said.

A student facing the situation described by Haab will now be empowered to invoke a few rights to protect themselves. Right I is the right to a dignified “living and learning environment.” Rights II and III protect students' freedom of expression and ability to protest on campus. Right IV is the right to privacy — both digital and in one’s residence — is the fourth of the nine encompassed in the document’s broad scope.

Already approved unanimously by the student senate, the bill is expected to be passed by the University Council during its Wednesday, Dec. 7, meeting, according to ASMSU president Lucas Oelkers. Although it will be a major milestone for ASMSU, the student body has enjoyed these rights all along — they just might not have known.

“They are all rights that students already had. But a lot of the power of your rights comes from knowing what they are, and when they are hidden in six different documents, it’s hard for students to have an explicit understanding of what exactly they are,” said Haab.

The bill's content is sourced from a myriad of more obscure university policies, such as the MSU Discrimination Policy and the Free Expression Policy. The Student Bill of Rights interprets these policies and aggregates them into a single, easily accessible document, according to Haab.

“Hopefully, it brings about a new understanding on campus,” she said.

If a student feels their rights have been violated, Haab is the first person they should talk to. “We would sit down and have a debrief about what exactly is going on,” she said. Depending on the nature of the issue she would then direct the student to the appropriate office on campus.

“If it’s a Title IX thing, it goes to the Office of Student Life. If it’s with a faculty, it goes to the HR department,” explained Oelkers. “If it’s a federal or state right, we have lawyers in our office for very cheap,” he said, referring to ASMSU Legal Services.

Since the bill draws from the policies of many organizations on campus, ASMSU sought widespread input during the drafting process. The Interfraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council, the Residence Hall Association, the Diversity and Inclusion Student Commons, the VOICE Center, the Faculty Senate and the deans of each college all gave input on the bill.

President Oelkers considered the engagement process rewarding in its own right. “When you get that breadth of people in the same room, very fruitful conversations happen that are [sometimes] larger in scope than the Student Bill of Rights.”