Woodard Approves Student Bill of Rights: Ratification Vote Slated for March 28.
Dublin Core
Title
Woodard Approves Student Bill of Rights: Ratification Vote Slated for March 28.
Subject
College students -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States
Universities and colleges -- Law and legislation -- United States.
Description
A newspaper article describing the Student Bill of Rights that President Woodard agreed upon with the Constitutional Revision Committee by Michael Mello.
Creator
Mello, Michael A.
Source
Mello, Michael A. "Woodard Approves Student Bill of Rights: Ratification Vote Slated for March 28." The Bullet, March, 21,1978.
Publisher
HIST 298, University of Mary Washington
Date
1978-03-21
Rights
The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source.
Format
2 JPG
300 dpi
Language
English
Coverage
Fredericksburg, VA
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
The Constitutional Revision Committee has recommended that the new SA Constitution should contain a Student Bill of Rights, which would be the "standard by which the Student Association shall formulate and conduct its policies." The committee's proposal, which has been approved by President Prince b. Woodard, will be on the March 28 ballot in the campus-wide elections.
The Bill of Rights, as prepared by the committee, contains five sections:
1) The SA shall take no action which "abridges the rights of students to freedom or inquiry, of religion, of speech, of press, of peaceful assemblage, or petition…the rights of students shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, religion, physical disability, national origin, political affiliation, marital status or age."
2) Students are to be "secure in their persons, houses or living quarters, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures."
3) Students accused of judicial infractions are entitled to "due process," which is defined as "notice to the accused of the nature and cause of the charges and a fair hearing which shall include confrontation of witnesses against him…the right to a speedy and public trial, to have ample time to obtain witnesses in his behalf, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense…no student, in any judicial case, shall be compelled to be a witness against himself."
4) Student "clubs may be established for any legal purpose consistent with the policy of the College."
5) The "student media is to be free of censorship. The editors and managers shall not be arbitrarily suspended by the Student Association because of disapproval of editorial policy or content registered by members of the student body, faculty, administration, alumni or community. This freedom entails a corollary obligation under the canons of responsible journalism and applicable regulations of the FCC."
The concepts embodied in the Bill of Rights were first presented to the committee by Eric Wootten at a March 13 meeting. Wootten's proposals, with minor changes, were unanimously ratified by the committee on March 15. The Bill was presented to President Woodard for approval the next day. Woodard replied that at least three changes would have to be made on the Bill before he would grant it his sanction. First, an ambiguous clause dealing with the search of dormitory rooms would have to be omitted. Second, the phrase "no student in any judicial case…shall be deprived of due process" must be cahnged to "no student in any student judicial case…shall be deprived of due process." This modification was necessary, asserted Kathy Mayer (chairwoman of the committee), because the Constitution applied only yo the S.A. It could not deal with Administrative judicial practices.
Thirdly, the clause pertaining to student clubs and organizations was radically altered. Originally the statement provided that "Organizations may be established for any legal purpose. Affiliation with an extramural organization shall not, in itself, disqualify the institution branch or chapter from institutional privileges." After changes the amendment states: "Clubs may be established for any legal purpose consistent with the policy of the college. Any such organization shall not be denied membership into ICA, should it desire it, without justifiable reason."
The revisions committee met for one final time on March 16 and worked out a compromise which was acceptable to all concerned, including President Woodard. Woodard gave his final approval on the modified Bill of Rights on March 17 in a morning meeting with S.A. President Kathy Mayer.
The student Bill of Rights is only one of many Constitutional changes which the committee is recommending. Other major changes in the existing Constitution include: 1) The Judicial Chairman would appoint upperclass as well as freshmen Judicial representatives. These officials are presently elected by the residents of the dormitory. 2) Executive Cabinet members would no longer be exofficio members of the Senate. 3) The Presidents of both Residential Council and the Day Students Association would attend Executive Cabinet meetings "on a regular basis." 4) The matter of Senate districts was clarified. 5) Chairmen for the standing committees of the Senate, who are presently elected, would be appointed by the President of the Senate subject to the approval of the Senate as a whole. 6) A system of S.A. bylaws would be established. 7) The quorum needed in the Senate to transact business would be replaces with a procedure whereby any number of senators present could conduct business. But a majority vote of the total membership would be needed to approve any legislation.
The Constitutional Revision Committee, which was composed of Mark McCoy, Bernard Skibinski, Barbara Stammerjohn, Susan Maloney, Kathy Mayer, Cindy Reeves and Laura Buchanan, first began its work almost a year ago. Mayer noted that she felt the completed document "was a definite improvement over the present Constitution." "We tried," said Mayer, "to deal with all of the major issues that came up this year: Alternative Theater Company, the West-moreland Four, the Bill of Rights. It was a long haul but the finished product was worth the effort."
Tuesday, March 21, 1978.
The Bill of Rights, as prepared by the committee, contains five sections:
1) The SA shall take no action which "abridges the rights of students to freedom or inquiry, of religion, of speech, of press, of peaceful assemblage, or petition…the rights of students shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, religion, physical disability, national origin, political affiliation, marital status or age."
2) Students are to be "secure in their persons, houses or living quarters, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures."
3) Students accused of judicial infractions are entitled to "due process," which is defined as "notice to the accused of the nature and cause of the charges and a fair hearing which shall include confrontation of witnesses against him…the right to a speedy and public trial, to have ample time to obtain witnesses in his behalf, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense…no student, in any judicial case, shall be compelled to be a witness against himself."
4) Student "clubs may be established for any legal purpose consistent with the policy of the College."
5) The "student media is to be free of censorship. The editors and managers shall not be arbitrarily suspended by the Student Association because of disapproval of editorial policy or content registered by members of the student body, faculty, administration, alumni or community. This freedom entails a corollary obligation under the canons of responsible journalism and applicable regulations of the FCC."
The concepts embodied in the Bill of Rights were first presented to the committee by Eric Wootten at a March 13 meeting. Wootten's proposals, with minor changes, were unanimously ratified by the committee on March 15. The Bill was presented to President Woodard for approval the next day. Woodard replied that at least three changes would have to be made on the Bill before he would grant it his sanction. First, an ambiguous clause dealing with the search of dormitory rooms would have to be omitted. Second, the phrase "no student in any judicial case…shall be deprived of due process" must be cahnged to "no student in any student judicial case…shall be deprived of due process." This modification was necessary, asserted Kathy Mayer (chairwoman of the committee), because the Constitution applied only yo the S.A. It could not deal with Administrative judicial practices.
Thirdly, the clause pertaining to student clubs and organizations was radically altered. Originally the statement provided that "Organizations may be established for any legal purpose. Affiliation with an extramural organization shall not, in itself, disqualify the institution branch or chapter from institutional privileges." After changes the amendment states: "Clubs may be established for any legal purpose consistent with the policy of the college. Any such organization shall not be denied membership into ICA, should it desire it, without justifiable reason."
The revisions committee met for one final time on March 16 and worked out a compromise which was acceptable to all concerned, including President Woodard. Woodard gave his final approval on the modified Bill of Rights on March 17 in a morning meeting with S.A. President Kathy Mayer.
The student Bill of Rights is only one of many Constitutional changes which the committee is recommending. Other major changes in the existing Constitution include: 1) The Judicial Chairman would appoint upperclass as well as freshmen Judicial representatives. These officials are presently elected by the residents of the dormitory. 2) Executive Cabinet members would no longer be exofficio members of the Senate. 3) The Presidents of both Residential Council and the Day Students Association would attend Executive Cabinet meetings "on a regular basis." 4) The matter of Senate districts was clarified. 5) Chairmen for the standing committees of the Senate, who are presently elected, would be appointed by the President of the Senate subject to the approval of the Senate as a whole. 6) A system of S.A. bylaws would be established. 7) The quorum needed in the Senate to transact business would be replaces with a procedure whereby any number of senators present could conduct business. But a majority vote of the total membership would be needed to approve any legislation.
The Constitutional Revision Committee, which was composed of Mark McCoy, Bernard Skibinski, Barbara Stammerjohn, Susan Maloney, Kathy Mayer, Cindy Reeves and Laura Buchanan, first began its work almost a year ago. Mayer noted that she felt the completed document "was a definite improvement over the present Constitution." "We tried," said Mayer, "to deal with all of the major issues that came up this year: Alternative Theater Company, the West-moreland Four, the Bill of Rights. It was a long haul but the finished product was worth the effort."
Tuesday, March 21, 1978.
Original Format
Newspaper
Vol. No./Issue No.
Vol. 51, Issue 8
Contributor of the Digital Item
Battles, Jamie
Student Editor of the Digital Item
Williams, Megan
Files
Citation
Mello, Michael A., “Woodard Approves Student Bill of Rights: Ratification Vote Slated for March 28.,” HIST299, accessed July 12, 2026, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/items/show/61.