T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
The Chronicle
XXXDAY, MONTH MONDAY, APRIL 8,XX, 2013 2013
ONE ONE HUNDRED HUNDRED AND AND EIGHTH EIGHTH YEAR, YEAR, ISSUE ISSUE 131 X
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
Students Candidates’ pasts not open to DSG grapple with gender norms by Jack Mercola THE CHRONICLE
Given the legal privacy of student records and the lack of definitive University sanctions when suspended students return to campus, a rapist could serve as Duke Student Government president or in another leadership position. Following a flyering campaign that accused a DSG vice presidential candidate of sexually assaulting another student, DSG President-elect Stefani Jones, a junior, said a policy barring those alleged or found responsible for sexual assault from running or holding office could never be enforced. Flyers posted early Friday morning accused sophomore Fedja Pavlovic of sexually assaulting another student. Pavlovic, who subsequently dropped out of the race for DSG vice president for residential life, denied these allegations, calling the flyers slanderous and libelous. He issued an official statement the following day that announced his withdrawal from the election, citing “irretrievable public damage” done to his campaign. It is unknown who is responsible for posting the flyers. Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which requires schools to gain a student’s consent prior to the disclosure of education or behavioral information, those who facilitate DSG elections have no access to disciplinary records of any potential candidates, Jones said.
Anthony Hagouel THE CHRONICLE
Even as Duke moves forward with transgender friendly policies, student leaders are worried about transgender students being able to comfortably transition genders on Duke’s campus. Blue Devils United, the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender life and Duke Administration are hoping to make Duke more welcoming to transgender students while maintaining a comfortable environment for the whole student body. Duke is taking large steps to these ends—such as having gender neutral housing available to students and including gender-reassignment surgery in the Duke health insurance plan offered to students—but continues to struggle to create a completely comfortable environment for students hoping to transition. “Duke in general is a campus where gender norms are pretty strong,” said junior Jacob Tobia, president of Blue Devils United, noting most students aspire to align with the norm. “While that’s good in some respects, it makes it harder for someone who is different to be different, particularly transgender students.” Lawrence Evalyn, Trinity ’12, said his transitional phase at Duke was characterized by a sense of indifference from a lot of the administration. “My experience at Duke was that the actual people were great—I didn’t hear a single transphobic slur or joke,” Evalyn said “But the institution is pretty indifferent in ways that can cause some serious pain.” Evalyn cited his inability to get his previously feminine name changed to his preferred name in academic systems, including ACES, which had the effect of unintentionally exposing him as a transgender individual to all of his classes and hall-mates. His experience would have been different if he had taken an approach that aimed to change administrative policies, rather than only his individual situation as transgendered life is a very complicated issue, he said. Many systems that operate bureaucratically don’t have the resources to deal with SEE TRANSGENDER ON PAGE 3
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JISOO YOON
Duke Student Government, meeting shown at bottom, cannot verify the disciplinary records of candidates. The question surfaced after the flyer above accused Fedja Pavlovic of sexually assaulting a student
SEE DSG ON PAGE 4
Greeks participate in PACT training by Imani Moise THE CHRONICLE
Many greek organizations on campus have taken steps toward reducing gender violence at Duke by committing to train their members to prevent, act, challenge and teach. The incoming members of many groups overseen by the four greek councils are now required to participate in PACT training, a student-facilitated workshop sponsored by the Women’s Center. The five-hour sessions promote awareness and dialogue about gender violence and equip participants with behaviors and strategies to combat forms of gender violence including sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking and relationship violence.
“The reduction of sexual misconduct is something that the four group councils have put at the forefront of all of our agendas,” said junior Segun Babatunde, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. The councils began to discuss PACT training in response to evidence of gender inequity published in the Spring 2013 Greek Culture Initiative report, wrote junior Ian Zhang, president of the Inter-Greek Council, in an email Wednesday. “It all starts with recognizing that inequality and gender disparities exist on campus. The GCI was a quantitative reaffirmation of what Duke students already know,” Zhang said. “For the members of IGC and leaders of the entire greek community, the answer is
very clear—fix it.” The IGC, the NPHC and the Interfraternity Council are all committed to training executive board members, along with new members. President of the Panhellenic Association Katie Howard, a junior, said presidents and risk managers are going through training. She added that for each president who has already been through training, Panhel is sending another member of the organization to receive PACT training. By training new members and executive members alike, Zhang said he hopes to create institutional change from both the top SEE PACT ON PAGE 4
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