DSG Judiciary rules on DCR listserv removals

The Duke Student Government Judiciary heard two cases Tuesday concerning allegations that Duke College Republicans were selective in their membership, ruling in one instance in favor of the club and in the second of the plaintiff.

Both former DCR vice chair Cliff Satell and former DCR Chair Justin Robinette filed complaints that the club violated its charter by removing them from its listserv. Such action would be in violation of a Student Organization Finance Committee bylaw of the DSG Constitution, which defines officially chartered organizations like DCR as one that is “dependent on DSG funding and is not selective in its membership.” The former club members filed the complaints July 16 and September 26, respectively.

In an unanimous ruling, however, the Judiciary found substantial evidence that Satell had expressed to the DCR Executive Board last year that he no longer wished to be a club member. In a letter written April 15, Satell referred to himself as a “(former) member” of the club who would formally boycott the club’s events, according to the Judiciary’s written opinion.

In the second case, the Judiciary found that Robinette’s removal was unsolicited because it did not find sufficient evidence that Robinette wished to disassociate himself from the club.

According to the Judiciary’s press release, the club was unaware that it had been violating the SOFC bylaw. After DSG was made aware of the DCR’s actions in July, DSG President Mike Lefevre sent a letter to the club notifying it of its illegal behavior. The College Republicans subsequently issued a statement of apology and since then have not restricted access to the listserv, the Judiciary noted.

Robinette and Satell were not the only DCR members that have been removed from the club’s listserv without warning in recent years prior to Lefevre’s letter. The Judiciary noted that this “illuminates” the fact that DCR was unaware this was a violation of SOFC bylaw.