The Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) along with the Ombudsman office are a resource for students who feel harassed or bullied, according to Gwendolyn Jones, SJA manager.
A recent incident involving the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi has led to a national discussion concerning the effects of harassment and bullying. The deaths of Clementi and other young people led president Barack Obama, speaking in a YouTube video posted by the White House, to say he was “shocked and saddened” by what had occurred.
Jones said she wants people to know her office wants to help them get through issues, including harassment. Although the SJA Code of Conduct Handbook does not use the term ‘bullying’, Jones said they consider bullying to be harassment.
Jones said harassment can come in different forms.
“It can be many things,” Jones said. “Students going back-and-forth arguing could be harassment. It could be stalking too, including E-mail and over the phone.”
Jones said letting someone know is the first step to resolving the problem. Letting someone know can help prevent a problem from escalating out of control.
“If you are being harassed in class, make your professor aware,” Jones. “If it’s outside of class, just tell someone. Let someone know if there is a problem.”
The SJA office has different ways they can proceed. Sometimes they will bring the person being harassed into their office with the person they accuse of harassing them and just try to clear the air, according to Jones.
If the problem could become serious, the Behavioral Intervention Team – including other Disability Services and other campus departments – can be brought in to evaluate.
The office can in the end suspend or even dismiss students, and has before. Jones said that’s the last resort and nearly every issue is resolved before that is necessary.
“We try to get people back on track,” Jones said. “We want our students to be successful.”
In a school with over 26,000 students, Jones said that students will encounter others that are different from them.
“Our campus is a microcosm of society,” Jones said. “We bring our beliefs and differences with us – given our size, we have a small number of problems. And it’s not always harassment either, sometimes it’s just conflict.”
Dealing with harassment is important to the college, according to Jones.
“We don’t want anyone to be terrified of coming to school.”