Student Council President Noah Sullivan spoke to the University Judiciary Committee last night advocating a proposed ballot referendum on hate crimes.
The new referendum, is worded slightly differently than the referendum rejected by the Student Council last week, would be a general question asking whether the students would support harsher UJC penalties for crimes motivated by hate.
"It's a pulse check on the student body," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said creating harsher sanctions for hate crimes would serve two purposes -- to act as a deterrent for future crimes and to assert a community standard on the issue.
"We are trying to find the best way to codify the idea that hate crimes are a more serious assault on the community than regular crimes," Sullivan said.
Sullivan took questions from UJC representatives during the meeting.
Many representatives criticized the referendum for reasons ranging from the lack of education in the community to the lack of UJC input as the referendum was being formulated.
Sullivan responded by noting that the hate crime issue had been brought up last spring at the UJC Judges' Workshop.
"I'm personally frustrated by the way this conversation has turned into a turf conversation," Sullivan said.
Other UJC representatives questioned whether the community was informed enough to vote on the issue.
"Do you think it's wise to ask such a specific question without educating the community first?" Representative Gavin Reddick asked Sullivan.
Issues Subcommittee Co-Chair Leslie Ann Brooks voiced similar concerns about student education.
"Students don't understand our procedure," Brooks said. "I think its going to pass based on ignorance of the system."
Unlike the single sanction of the Honor Committee, UJC Judges have the power to issue sanctions ranging from oral admonition to expulsion.
"Students may not know our system was set up to have broad sanctioning power," Brooks said.
Other issues raised in the meeting included whether changes in UJC policy would tie the hands of judges when handing down sanctions, as well as the practical challenges issuing new sanctioning guidelines would cause.
Although a hate crimes referendum was rejected by the Student Council at last week's meeting, it can still be placed on the ballot by a petition of 900 signatures.
According to Sullivan, supporters of the referendum are currently collecting signatures to put the referendum on the ballot.
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