By Anna Walters
In a unanimous vote at Monday's meeting, the ASUP Senate passed a resolution suggesting the administration revise the "Consensual Relationships and Sexual Misconduct" policy for clarity.
Resolution 08-03 recommends that several changes be made to the policy, which states on page 123 of the student handbook: "sexual union and other acts of sexual intimacy outside of marriage are considered antithetical to the community of the University of Portland. Individuals who choose to disregard the University's principals of respect, or being perceived to be disregarding them, risk losing the privilege of being part of the University community."
In passing the resolution, the Senate, as the representative body of UP students, urges the administration to reconsider some of the phrasing of the policy, such as the words "misconduct," "intimacy" and "perceived."
"All someone has to do is raise an allegation against me and I can be kicked out of school?" asked senior Ami Jhaveri, the ASUP Senator spearheading the resolution. "That was the phrase that made it seem like I was living in the Soviet Union. That's not what (the administration) means, but that's what it says."
Each summer, administrators revisit the entire Student Handbook and make revisions. Judicial Coordinator Natalie Shank plans to keep the resolution for reference.
"I think that ASUP is a good forum for student issues and student concerns and I appreciate knowing what students think," Shank said. "So I will keep (the resolution) in my inbox and on file when I start looking at policies this summer."
The resolution also addresses the policy's vagueness regarding physical location. The ASUP Senate is concerned that the policy doesn't specify "whether it applies to students on or off campus, student living in UP owned housing, or privately rented homes," according to the text of the resolution.
Before Monday's Senate meeting, Jhaveri circulated an informal e-mail petition to garner support for the resolution.
"In a matter of six hours, I received over 50 students that said they were in support of it," Jhaveri said at the meeting.
Students' objections to the policy range from confusion over the wording to outrage over the policy's goal, according to Jhaveri.
Senior Zoà Zuschlag considers the policy itself a violation of student rights.
"To a point, (the administration) is not only trying to control sexual expression, they're trying to fetter your own body," Zuschlag said. "Signing up to go to this school is like signing your free will to the Catholic Church."
To Jhaveri, the policy's vagueness presents a bigger issue.
"I know I'm going to a Catholic university, and, because of that, I agree to abide by certain rules and regulations," Jhaveri said. "I didn't sign up for living blindly under a code I don't believe in or understand."
