THE
ETROPOLITAN
The Metropolitan State College of Den ver student newspaper ser ving the Auraria Campus since 1979
Denver, Colorado
Volume 13, Issue 3
September 7, 1990
• [south African journalist delivers perSpec ive
p. 16
Children frolic in the fountain at Civic Center Park on a 90 degree day at A Taste of Colorado over Labor Day weekend.
\
Student
complai~t .forces
Tammy Pacheco The Metropolitan Metropolitan State College of Denver has a new policy on religious discrimination because a Jewish student compl• ained to the Affirmative Action Advisory Council. MSCD student Joel Kleg said he missed Diane Hartman's beginning reporting class to attend Passover Seder in April. Due to Hartman's policy of not accepting work past deadline, Kleg was not able to make up the work he missed. He has since accused Hartman of religious discrimination. Hartman said that she had made the rule and that no exceptions were made for any student in the class, and that good attendance was also considered in the final grade. _ "1 gave him (Joel) the zeros for missing the classes but, because he had good at-
tendance, I didn't figure those zeros into his final grade," Hartman said. Kleg asked to see his final grades, but ' has not received them. "They'll give me the letter grade, but they won't give me the numerical grade," Kleg said. According to Hartman, the zeros didn't hurt his grade at all. A committee formed at MSCD to hear Kleg's complaint found that Hartman treated all her students in the same manner, and Kleg's grade was not hurt by the missing grades. But the committee also found that MSCD' slack of aclear policy on absences due to religious holidays left room for possible charges of discrimination. As a result, Director of Equal Opportunity and Assistant to the President Percy A. Morehouse, Jr. drafted a four-part policy on nonattendance because of religious beliefs. "It's been approved by the [MSCD\
policy change
President Thomas Brewer's] Cl}binet," Morehouse said. ·The "Class Attendance on Religious Holidays Policy," went into effect Aug. 29. It allows for students, who are unable to attend a class on a particular day due to religious beliefs, to be excused from any examination or work requirement on that day. According to Hartman, Kleg said he, at first, wanted a school policy regarding religious practice and missing class. Kleg now says he wants his gr~de changed because he feels he deserves an "A." Kleg is not satisfied with the committee's finding and has asked the Anti-defamation League and the American Civil Liberties Union for their help. " I don't understand why he is carrying this out," Hartman said. The religious policy will be available to students as soon as the Board of Trust:l ees has a final look at it.
Joel Kleg (See policy page 17)
I