The Sigma Chi fraternity has been placed on social probation and junior Justin Park has been suspended from the University until the spring of 2008, after a Student Conduct Board investigated allegations that the fraternity issued a racially-charged party invitation.
The board found the fraternity and Park guilty of all charges made against them, including violations of University policy. Park's current semester has been invalidated.
The administration largely declined to comment on details regarding the disciplinary hearing, citing federal privacy laws and possible future appeals from parties involved.
The Conduct Board was comprised of two Hopkins staff members -- one employed by the Recreation Center and the other by the Office of Residential Life -- and three students including one member of the Black Student Union (BSU). A representative from the Office of Equal Opportunity along with Rob Turning, the coordinator of Greek Life, and Dorothy Sheppard, the associate dean of students, were also present at the hearing. Although the hearing was officially presided over by the Conduct Board, all three were allegedly active participants in the questioning of the fraternity and Park.
All Sigma Chi members and Park were put on trial before the Conduct Board in one hearing. The Board called on the testimony of witnesses, primarily members of the BSU. The defendants were granted opportunities to present witnesses including students who had attended the party and members of the fraternity. Copies of the Facebook invitation created by Park and photographs of the plastic doll dressed like a pirate and hanging by a noose on the front porch of the fraternity house were presented by the Board as hard evidence.
Park criticized the University for holding one hearing for separate charges brought against himself and Sigma Chi. He also questioned the University for trying him as an individual, maintaining that the party was held by the fraternity -- not by himself.
"I was appalled at the disorganization and biased nature of the entire proceeding. Sigma Chi and I had a combined hearing; if we're facing different charges, as was the case, we should've had different hearings. And I don't believe that I should've been tried as an individual -- I do not deserve to be singled out, and prosecuted separately by the University for an act performed as a proxy of Sigma Chi," Park said.
According to an e-mail sent to the University community by President Brody, the Sigma Chi chapter has been ordered to recruit four adult advisers and to include a diversity commitment in its new-members programming, including four on-campus cultural events and four off-campus cultural events.
"As we've already noted, decisions by the Student Conduct Board may be appealed to the dean of student life. It would be inappropriate for the University to comment on any particular board decision, to provide for fair consideration of any appeal of that decision," Dennis O'Shea, executive director of the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, said.
O'Shea commented that popular student opinion as expressed in a Facebook.com group, for example, would unlikely influence the fraternity's appeal, if there is one.
"The grounds for appeal in a Student Conduct Board case are limited. I have never heard that popular opinion, one way or the other, is among those grounds," he said.
Park expressed dismay with the structure of the hearing and a lack of information regarding the Board's decision and reasoning provided to him afterwards.
"I went to a meeting with Dean Sheppard, she gave me a letter, read the terms of my punishment, and told me that I could appeal it and that was it. [The letter] just said that I was found guilty of harassment and all the charges," Park said.
Park is currently planning to appeal the decision. Sigma Chi has also planned to file an appeal and several brothers have voiced support of reducing Park's sentence.
On a recently constructed Web site, http://www.savejustin.org, a number of Sigma Chi brothers and other students have brought into debate the impartiality of the Conduct Board hearing. The Web site announces its mission, stating, "We aim to convince the University to rescind Justin's suspension immediately and reinstate him as a member of our community." Students organized to form a rally in support of Park yesterday.
As the possibility of an appeal is still manifest, Susan Boswell, the dean of student life, was unable to comment.
According to a Facebook group entitled, "We Support Student Rights (JHU doesn't)," Park's return to the University is contingent upon completion of 300 hours of community service, reading and writing reflection papers on 12 books selected by Sheppard and attending an approved workshop on diversity and race relations. The group, which has amassed over 600 student members, was created by senior Lars Trautman, a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Park expressed disappointment with the University's choice of punishment and questioned its value.
"I thought the punishment would've been something to help me reflect and learn from my experience. But I sincerely doubt that one and a half years away from the University will help provide a learning experience for me and if anything it'll be counterproductive in that regard. The University's mission statement is to enrich students. I believe my punishment goes against the University's mission statement," Park said.
"The sanction by the Conduct Board saddens me, as it does not serve to educate or cultivate my capacity for life-long learning. In fact, it accomplishes the exact opposite by preventing me from making amends and learning from my mistakes," he added.
Christina Chapman, president of the BSU and a vocal critic of the University's pace of progress in promoting greater diversity and cultural awareness, declined to comment in regard to the announced sanctions against Sigma Chi and the suspension of Park.
