If passed, a new bill introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Nov. 18 may make students more aware of harassment and how to seek help if they are being harassed, UW-Eau Claire Associate Dean of Students Jodi Thesing-Ritter said.
“What it’s going to do is require colleges and universities to have anti-harassment policies in order to keep receiving federal aid,” Thesing-Ritter said.
The bill, called “The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act,” was named in memory of Tyler Clementi, a student from Rutgers College in NJ who committed suicide after fellow students filmed him having sex and streamed it online.
News of the legislation was followed by a joint statement of civility from the chancellors of all 13 universities in the UW System on Nov. 23.
“Universities and colleges are uniquely positioned to address these thorny issues,” the chancellors said in the statement. “Civil discourse is a cornerstone of democracy and a central tenet of academic freedom. Building on this tradition, we must set the stage for ‘civil behavior’ in all its forms.”
Alyssa Montez, a freshman at UW-Eau Claire thinks that such a bill would be the right way to handle harassment issues.
“When people are being harassed, they need to know that there are things being done about it,” Montez said. “People have the right to say what they want to say, but they may be hurting others. That’s not OK.”
Thesing-Ritter was not sure how much such a bill would affect UW-Eau Claire because there are already anti-harassment policies in place. The Hate/Bias Incident Response Team is one of these anti-harassment measures at UW-Eau Claire, meant to serve as a safe place for people to report hateful, intolerant or biased actions.
“I don’t think it will make a big difference in policy,” Thesing-Ritter said. “What it could do, though, is heighten the awareness of incidents of harassment.”
Some organizations have said that the bill would threaten First Amendment rights. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education stated that “the proposed law requires universities to police even more student speech under a hopelessly vague standard that will be a disaster for open debate and discourse on campus.”
Kaitlyn Johnson, a freshman at UW-Eau Claire, also sees the bill not as infringing on people’s rights, but as a preventative measure.
“You lose your freedom of speech when you infringe on others’ rights,” Johnson said. “If this bill and the policies are well thought out and careful and respectful of people’s rights, they can protect from harassment.”
Thesing-Ritter said that the bill wouldn’t stop anybody from speaking their mind.
“You can’t make people nice, you can’t censor speech,” she said. “Ultimately, individuals are responsible for that.”
In their joint statement, the UW Chancellors said that the UW System is keeping First Amendment rights in mind.
“Everyone has a right to his or her opinion, and everyone else has a right to challenge that opinion – with evidence, and with respect,” they said. “Nobody has a right to engage in abusive behavior, and we each have an obligation to challenge that kind of conduct whenever it occurs on our campus or in our communities.”
