Several HU students are facing discipline (expulsion) for violating Hampton's school policy which prohibits handing out 'unauthorized' fliers.
Is it fair to 'expel' these students who were trying to 'raise social consciousness' in the school's community? The reaction of Hampton University's school officials has been swift, albeit a hearing still has to take place on behalf of the students.
November 23, 2005
HAMPTON -- At least one Hampton University student faces expulsion after being accused of handing out unauthorized fliers this month that talked about the Bush administration, genocide in Sudan, AIDS awareness and homophobia.
Sophomore Aaron Ray said he received a letter Friday advising him that he would have to attend a hearing to determine whether he had broken several codes of conduct, including a rule about cajoling or proselytizing students, "distribution of unauthorized materials" and "the policy on student demonstrations."
The hearing was set for Monday but was postponed so the students could talk to a lawyer or gather character witnesses, Ray said. He has heard that five other students received similar letters. No date for a new hearing has been set.
The letter refers to a Nov. 2 gathering, when a small group of students advocated a walkout to protest the Bush administration, and passed out fliers talking about various social issues.
According to university policy, fliers and protests need to be approved in advance by the administration.
Hampton University officials would not comment specifically on the issue. "There are some students that broke university policy," said spokeswoman Yuri Rodgers Milligan. "There's going to be a hearing. And other than that, I can't talk about it."
According to several participants, about 20 students gathered at the university's student center Nov. 2 and handed out fliers for about 30 minutes before they were stopped by university police.
"A lot of people have opinions and voices, and we just wanted to talk," said Sia Mensah, a sophomore studying psychology. There's not a lot of political discussion at the university, Mensah said, and no outlet to talk to students about issues like AIDS and war.
One flier that was distributed by the students talked about the cost of the war in Iraq and the number of deaths of Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers. It listed the cost of the war as $216 billion and counting, and said that instead of spending that money on war, "we could have hired 3,747,258 public school teachers for our youth."
The students coordinated the walk-out with a national group called World Can't Wait, which describes itself as an organization attempting to drive out the Bush administration.
On its Web site,
www.worldcantwait.net, World Can't Wait says three HU students face expulsion, and asks for members to contact the university and voice their outrage.
Ray said this is a freedom of speech issue for him and the others who face expulsion.
But Milligan refers to the student handbook, which says the university "recognizes the role of peaceful, nonviolent, unobtrusive demonstrations."
The handbook also says "all student demonstrations must, in advance, be registered with and approved by the Chief of Police and the Director of Student Activities/Student Union."
The maximum penalty for violating the rules is expulsion.
"I think the punishment doesn't fit the so-called crime," said Hampton University sophomore Eba Hamid. "We're just trying to raise awareness."
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Wednesday, November 23rd 2005 at 9:37AM
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