Following a number of incidents that highlighted the disciplinary limits of the DSG Senate, a new body may change how student groups are investigated and punished.
Senior Andrew Schreiber, Duke Student Government chief of staff, proposed establishing a permanent Senate Judiciary Committee for DSG at Wednesday’s meeting. The committee would be designed to fill the gaps of the Senate, including the ability to investigate and punish groups involved in disputes.
Schreiber said a series of high profile events revealed a need for a body that would discipline and fact find, citing a dispute between DSG and a capella group Speak of the Devil as an example of an incident that could not be completely resolved.
“We didn’t have a way to punish them,” Schreiber said. “It was bizarre.”
He said last semester’s controversy with Duke College Republicans emphasized the fact that the Senate is not a fact-finding body.
“We really only had the information that we’re fortunate to have because Justin Robinette [Trinity ’11 and former DCR chair, was] a senator,” Schreiber said.
Establishing a permanent Senate Judiciary Committee would be a way to subpoena student groups and individuals as well as publicize documents and information, Schreiber said. He added that the committee would have the authority to propose remedial legislation following hearings.
He suggested that the committee be led by Executive Vice President Pete Schork, a junior.
“This would be a way to air contentious issues publicly,” Schreiber said. “It would provide the Duke community with a permanent venue for constructive dialogue.”
In other business:
Student Organization Finance Committee Chair Max Tabachnik, a senior, delivered his semester report at the meeting. He announced that The Inferno, the official student club of Duke athletics, will no longer require members to pay a fee in order to join. Dues to join The Inferno were $40 this year. The change will become official once SOFC bylaws are changed, said President Mike Lefevre, a senior. Tabachnik said SOFC is willing to put an unspecified amount of money into The Inferno if the membership fee is eliminated.
Sophomore Ji Won Paek was confirmed unanimously as the DSG liasion to multicultural life. Lefevre said her first assignment as liasion will be to meet with all the multicultural groups on campus.
“Duke prides itself by calling itself one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation but it’s not integrated,” Paek said. “We cannot call ourselves a diverse community [until] we have a long-term solution.”
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