In preparation for the upcoming school year, Emerson launched a modified code of community standards, according to an email sent from President Jay Bernhardt to the Emerson community Friday.
In the email, Bernhardt addressed the calls for transparency around policies and processes that have increased following pro-Palestinian protests and arrests on campus.
“To that end, policies were updated to provide a greater focus on campus safety and continuity of operations,” the email read, “and they include a new institutional voice statement from Emerson’s Board of Trustees.”
The code of community standards is created by the Office of Community Standards. Its definition was among the updated sections on the website.
Previously, the definition read “to protect the rights of Emerson College community members as well as the rights of students reported to have violated the college’s community standards.” Now modified, the update now includes the Code of Community Standards to “protect the rights of Emerson students through individualized, fair, and just practices.”
Under the Rights and Responsibilities section of the code, modifications show that the fifth right has been completely removed from the standards. The fifth right ensured students “the right to bring forward a complaint if one has a good faith reason to believe that it is more likely than not that the rights or responsibilities derived from this statement have been violated.”
In the Student Conduct Process, students will no longer face an administrative hearing for reports of college policy violations. Under the updated policies, “reports that a student engaged in behavior that may have violated college policy are resolved through the student’s choice of a Community Standards conference, resolution panel, or a conduct board hearing.”
“Retaliation or intimidation,” “use of name, image, likeness, and creative works” and “student organization policies” have been added to the “potential violations” section to the college’s Code of Community Standards.
Members of the Emerson community will have opportunities to share their feedback on these updated policies with college leadership to inform future updates, Bernhardt wrote.
