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Friday May 11, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 60
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U . A F FA I R S
Workers’ testimonies reveal mistreatment, sexual misconduct By Ivy Truong Assistant News Editor
IVY TRUONG :: THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Students and YDS members hold signs at the town hall. S T U D E N T A F FA I R S
On Wednesday, May 9, campus staff members shared testimonies of job uncertainty, low wages, and sexual harassment during a town hall organized by the Young Democratic Socialists and Service Employees International Union, Local 175. The town hall comes in the lead-up to contract negotiations in June. “These are the people that clean buildings, feed you, and generally give you a home feeling,” SEIU
president Thomas Parker said to the students to kick off the testimonies. Many worker testimonies — some anonymous because of fear of retaliation — revealed that working at the University is a double-edged sword. “Working for Princeton is a privilege,” Kathy Mikos, who works in Dining Services, explained. “But there’s a dark side also.” For many of the workers who testified, this “dark side” includes intimidation by the management, See YDS page 3
U . A F FA I R S
ICC presidents combat Committee on Sexual Misconduct declining membership at releases fourth annual report sign-in eating clubs Staff Writer
According to the Interclub Council, the percentage of people choosing to join non-selective, “signin” eating clubs has been declining. This year, 325 sophomores participated in the first round of the sign-in process, a 14 percent decline from the spring of 2017. The Daily Princetonian spoke with both the current and previous presidents of the ICC to find out more about the over-
all decline in membership among the five sign-in clubs. Both the current president Hannah Paynter ’19 and former president Matthew Lucas ’18 said the ICC is taking active measures to reverse the trend. “There are more and more concentrated efforts to expand the transparency of the eating clubs and to champion diversity and inclusion,” said Paynter, president of the ICC and president of Cloister Inn. “We want the clubs to not just be an option for stuSee ICC page 4
ACADEMICS
COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Philosophers debate whether businesses can deny service to gay people By Sarah Warman Hirschfield Associate News and Video Editor
On Wednesday, five philosophers debated where to draw the line between religious liberty and discrimination, using the high-profile pending Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission as a main example. The case concerns the right of a business to refuse services based on the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and free exercise of religion. When Jack Phillips, the owner of a cake shop in Colorado, refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple due to his Christian beliefs, the couple said it was discrimination. Phillips maintained that baking a cake is an act of creative expression. A court held oral arguments last year and will likely reach a decision by the end of its term. “[The decision] could come out at any moment,” said Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, who moder-
In Opinion
ated the talk. Last year, George and Sherif Girgis ’08 co-wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times arguing in favor of the shop owner’s right to deny the couple service. As a longtime advocate of traditional marriage, George, along with panelists Girgis and Ryan T. Anderson ’04, co-authored the book “What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense.” John Corvino, a philosophy professor at Wayne State University, also known and self-described as the “Gay Moralist,” started the talk by addressing his new book, “Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination.” He coauthored the book with fellow panelists Anderson and Girgis. “People are sometimes surprised to hear me refer to [Anderson and Girgis] as my friends. They say, ‘How can you, as a LGBT rights advocate and a gay man yourself, be friends with Anderson and Girgis?’” Corvino began. “The answer to the question is really quite simple: I drink.” Corvino said that he beSee MARRIAGE page 4
Head Opinion Editor emeritus Nicholas Wu encourages us to reflect on the critical junctures that shape one’s experience at Princeton, and a guest contributor explores the merits of motherhood as a campaign tool. PAGE 6
The Faculty-Student Advisory Committee on Sexual Misconduct gathered feedback from students and faculty to draft the report.
By Allie Spensley Associate News Editor
The Faculty-Student Advisory Committee on Sexual Misconduct released its fourth annual set of University policy recommendations on Thursday morning. This year’s 22-page report is larger and more extensive than reports from past years — reflecting the committee’s new tactics to gather more widespread sources of input — and touches on sexual misconduct policies including training, transparency, penalties, and power differentials. Throughout the academic year, the committee gathered feedback from a variety of sources on campus, including from We Speak survey data, smaller groups such as the Undergraduate Student Life Committee, and opinion pieces in The Daily Princetonian. The committee received written input from students and faculty and held town hall meetings where members of the University community could voice their concerns about current sexual misconduct policies. “The committee has made a set of recommendations every year, but they have typically been based more on the We Speak survey data or on other factors around campus,” said Vice Provost for Institutional
Equity and Diversity Michele Minter, one of the committee’s two co-chairs. “The committee has never used a process like this year’s, which involved holding open meetings and actively soliciting input from the community. This was an intensive process of collecting information.” Minter co-chairs the Faculty-Student Committee with psychology professor Nicole Shelton. The 10-person committee serves as an advisory body to the University president and provost, focusing on Title IX and Title IX-related sex discrimination and sexual misconduct policies and procedures. The group also includes Kathleen Deignan, the dean of undergraduate students; Jacqueline DeitchStackhouse, director of the Sexual Harassment/Assault, Advising, Resources, and Education office; and two professors, two graduate students, and two undergraduates. The committee’s report is sent to President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 and Provost Deborah Prentice. In addition, specific recommendations call for a number of University offices — the Dean of the Faculty, Human Resources, as well as the Title IX office itself — to discuss and potentially implement suggested changes. The report addressed rela-
Today on Campus 2:00 p.m.: Students in the course MUS214: Projects in Vocal Performance present a final recital of 19th–20th century French songs by Fauré, Debussy, Duparc, and others. Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall
See REPORT page 5
WEATHER
By Nick Shashkini
tionships between individuals of different University status, such as faculty members and students. Rules for these relationships do not fall under the Title IX office, but under other University policies such as the Consensual Relations with Students Policy, a part of the Rules and Procedures for the Faculty. Current policy states that “no faculty member, researcher, graduate student, visiting student, or undergraduate course assistant” may initiate a romantic or sexual relationship with a student who is subject to their academic supervision or evaluation. Earlier this academic year, the ‘Prince’ reported how Title IX investigations found that electrical engineering professor Sergio Verdú was guilty of sexually harassing his advisee, violating the University’s policy on sex discrimination and sexual misconduct. The Faculty-Student Advisory Committee on Sexual Misconduct received feedback from some members of the University community that all relationships between individuals where a power differential exists should be defined as sexual misconduct, even if the relationship is consensual. The report states that faculty, staff, and graduate students have the right to consensual relationships even where a power differential is present, but notes that consent can be hard to establish in these situations and can evolve into sexual misconduct. “We were not prepared to take away from people their right to make their own decisions about their relationships or to define their relationships. We felt that personal agency was important,” Minter said. “The Title IX Policy addresses unwelcome conduct. So we were not willing to tell someone that the relationship they felt was welcome, and that they chose to be in, was unwelcome.” Some recommendations, such as redesigning faculty training and changing the content of annual reports on disciplinary outcomes, can go into effect as soon as the beginning of next school year,
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