TAKE ACTION: Tell Rutgers University President to Immediately Expel Students Responsible for Tyler Clementi's Suicide
HELP US SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE AGAINST LGBT HARASSMENT & HATE
Tell Rutgers University President Richard McCormick to take immediate action in the wake of this national tragedy and immediately expel both students in accordance with their own Student Code of Conduct for invasion of privacy.
CALL PRESIDENT MCCORMICK
732-932-7454
OR CONTACT THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH HIS ONLINE PAGE
http://president.rutgers.edu
If you're an Rutgers University Alumnus, please contact the campus online:
http://www.alumni.rutgers.edu/s/896/index.aspx?sid=896&gid=1&pgid=382
“Now is the time to act decisively and send a clear message at Rutgers and at colleges across the country that LGBT harassment and hate will not be tolerated any longer,” states Campus Pride noting it has now been two weeks since Clementi committed suicide.
(New Brunswick, NJ) Campus Pride, the nation’s leading non-profit organization working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally college and university students, today called for Rutgers University to act decisively to expel both Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei for invasion of privacy of fellow student Tyler Clementi. Two weeks ago on Wednesday,September 22, Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge posting on his Facebook page, "jumping off the gw bridge sorry."
According to Campus Pride, the Rutgers University Code of Student Conduct prohibits "making or attempting to make an audio or video recording of any person(s) on University premises in bathrooms, showers, bedrooms, or other premises where there is an expectation of privacy with respect to nudity and/or sexual activity,without the knowledge and consent of all participants subject to such recordings."
“Ravi and Wei acted maliciously to secretly tape Tyler Clementi, even posting comments to encourage others to ‘video chat’ and watch. This is an egregious act of invasion of privacy. Both students should be expelled. Period,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director and founder of Campus Pride. “This act was not simply a prank. It has been two weeks now and neither student has been expelled. Now is the time to act decisively and send a clear message at Rutgers and at colleges across the country that LGBT harassment and hate will not be tolerated any longer.”
Campus Pride’s “2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People” released last month shows that LGBT incidents of harassment and discrimination are neither rare nor fleeting-- they are real. The national study indicates that one quarter (23%) of LGBQ staff, faculty,and students reported experiencing harassment. An even greater percentage of transgender students, faculty, & staff reported experiencing harassment (39%), often more overt and blatant on campus.
Since the death of Clementi, Campus Pride has received hundreds of emails and phone calls from concerned parents of LGBT youth who are asking for resources to determine safe, welcoming LGBT-friendly colleges and universities. While the national organization recognizes that it takes time for law officers to deal with the investigation surrounding the criminal charges and prosecuting to the full extent of the law, Rutgers University has a clear violation of its own student code of conduct to enforce for the safety and privacy of all students.
“Rutgers University has an obligation to the family of Tyler Clementi and to parents who have gay kids across the nation to enforce the student code of conduct,” said Windmeyer. "The nation is watching what happens.Rutgers should take immediate action in the wake of this national tragedy and immediately expel both students."
For more information about Campus Pride's "2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People" report, visit www.campuspride.org/research.
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"If" is the operative word
To the person who began with "If the female being charged was in the room and saw the recording take place" the correct conclusion to that sentence is "that WOULD confirm her involvement." Can anyone point to a news source where it states as verified fact that she saw the recording taking place, or was aware it was taking place, or was even actually in the room when it took place? That would be really helpful. Facts shold come first, then assessment of the facts, then conclusions, then appropriate punishment. The order is important.
Ummm ...
To the person who thinks I'm Molly Wei, I'm actually an overweight, WASP, liberal democrat. I have a bi daughter who has bi and lesbian friends who have always been welcome at our house. I recently had the pleasure of attending the wedding of a good friend and her partner of 12 years. I've actively supported full inclusion of LGBT people in our church. And the LGBT young people I know think I'm actually pretty open-minded for an old guy. So cut the omniscience nonsense ... you're not very good at it. (And btw, if I were her, I probably wouldn't have said I'd be unsurprised to see evidence against me coming out in the next day or so.)
What would be more effective is if you could actually respond to my post. Please point me to any factual evidence you have seen in any media reports that would prove Wei is guilty of something, or any information saying Rutgers has any such information in its possession. Because without that, Campus Pride -- a good organization that does a nice job supporting LGBT young people -- will have been guilty of trying to get somebody punished without evidence. And that only detracts from the message they are trying to send.
People are justifiably angry about what happened, and everybody posting here wants to see those responsible punished. Everybody posting here is sick and tired of LGBT people being harassed and discriminated against and physically attacked. But throwing logic and due process and presumption of innocence and ethical considerations out the window is not a helpful response. It's bad from a moral viewpoint, from an ethical viewpoint, and from a public-relations viewpoint.
Quoting Shane Windmayer:
Quoting Shane Windmayer: "Both students should be expelled. Period."
This kind of rhetoric undermines the credibility of Campus Pride. Ending an assertion with the word "period" is an attempt to shut down reasoned discussion of an issue. It is a childish argument and suggests that the speaker just wants you to agree with her without considering any counterarguments. Moreover, it falsely suggests that there is something axiomatic about the proposition that these two students should be expelled. Expelling these two students is a serious action that should be justified by more than just M. Windmayer's feelings. In addition, the assertion that two weeks is obviously enough time for Rutgers to expel these students is simply M. Windmayer's opinion, unsupported by any evidence or reasoning. Let's hope that cooler heads prevail and Rutgers affords these students due process before taking disciplinary action.
Take Another Breath
Dear Molly, we all know this is your post. You should AND WILL BOTH BE EXPELLED.!!! I as a Gay person will make sure this happens. We're tired of being bullied and tormented. Enough!!!
If the female being charged
If the female being charged was in the room and saw the recording take place; that confirms her involvement. The president of Rutgers University should follow protocol not simply because it is protocol. He should do the right thing and take anyone involved out of the school to protect others from harm. This man should show some morality and respect.
Time to take a deep breath ...
The only bit of evidence I've seen anywhere related to Molly Wei is the following piece of one of Ravi's Twitter posts: "I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude." As far as I know, that is the sum total of publicly-available evidence implicating Wei. And while it seems likely she knew what he was doing, that is an inference unsubtantiated by any real evidence, and so it's far from certain at this point. In the absence of any other factual information, I don't think that is sufficient to conclude with certainty that she violated RU policy and should be expelled. Unless and until there is hard evidence reported about her role, pushing for her expulsion is premature and does more harm to the fight for LGBT equality than good.
One additional thought. There are people that are accusing the gay community of exploiting this death to further their agenda. I find that infuriating. But prematurely calling for Wei's expulsion in the absence of any disclosed and substantive evidence of her guilt is exactly that. Even if evidence comes out tomorrow confirming her involvement ... and that wouldn't surprise me at all ... the fact that Campus Pride is calling for this today largely proves the charge that they don't really care about the facts of the case. I understand the deep-seated desire to do something in the face of this tragedy, but this is really misguided.
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