The University Board of Elections last night announced the results of student votes on nine referenda included on the University's spring ballot.
Eight referenda passed on the spring ballot.
Two of the referenda put forth to the student body pertained to the single sanction.
The consensus clause referendum, which was put forth by members of the student body, was one of the most controversial referenda on this year's ballot. The student body was asked to vote on whether or not the Honor Committee constitution should be amended to require that the single sanction statute only be changed by the vote of a simple majority of the student body.
Although 59.5 percent of voters favored the amendment, it did not garner the required 60 percent.
Another referendum polled students on whether the Honor Committee should seek alternatives to the single sanction. A majority of voters, 59.4 percent, voted in favor of the referendum.
The results of the student vote suggest the Honor Sanction Reform Committee should continue to explore possible alternatives to the single sanction, Committee Chair Sara Page said.
"From here I think the committee needs to look deeply into the sanction reform possibilities," Page said. "I think since 60 percent of the students want the committee to seek alternatives to the single sanction then the committee has a direct mandate to do that."
A referendum on the University Judiciary Committee punishment guidelines was passed by a 70 percent vote. The referendum requires that the UJC create specific and severe punishment guidelines for judiciary offenses motivated by hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disability.
The Student Council and the UJC should continue to work together in order to create the regulations outlined by the referendum and supported by the student body, said newly elected UJC Engineering representative Derek Yeung.
"I think that we need to work with the Student Council in order to create a more amicable change in the University Judiciary Committee bylaws to reflect the student opinion," Yeung said. "It is important for us to look into [the] core values of the hate crime statute and proceed from there."
Students also voted in favor of a Student Council constitutional amendment requiring the voting records of Student Council representatives to be made public.
Other referenda included on the spring ballot and passed by student vote concerned amendments to the Nursing, Commerce and First Year Council Constitutions, pursuing a contract between the University and the Coca-Cola Company to replace the current contract with Pepsi and finding the additional fall semester reading day helpful.
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