THE VERMONT
CYNIC Sept. 18, 2018
vtcynic.com
Interns pulled
Artist housing
One year ago, UVM’s graduate internship program was discontinued. Now, the director of guidance faces charges.
UVM has six newly designated buildings on Trinity campus for the Arts and Creativity community.
PAGE 2
PAGE 5
Moving off campus 3 / Easy recipes 5 / Hockey preview 7
“One of the problems is, if someone is dismissed from any campus for sexual assault,
there’s no real flag if they transfer to another university.” - Judy Rickstad, campus victim’s advocate
Fixing flaws in the system ■ A petition started by a student to highlight a flaw in college sexual assault reporting has stirred up a national conversation. Sawyer Loftus swloftus@uvm.edu
After a UVM sophomore reported her rape to University officials, she found a hole in UVM policy allowing dismissed students to avoid disclosing past misconduct. Sophomore Syd Ovitt started a petition aimed at flagging students who attempt to transfer to a new college or university after being dismissed for sexual misconduct, Ovitt said. The petition, which has received national attention from lawmakers, is called Explain the Asterisk. She chose the name because of the asterisk placed at the bottom of a student’s transcript used to indicate all reasons for dismissal, ranging from poor grades to academic misconduct to sexual assault. This is a practice at UVM and other college registrars to indicate why a student was dis-
facebook.com/ thevermontcynic
missed, she said. “We all know colleges take plagiarism and bad grades extremely seriously,” Ovitt said. “For some reason, that looks just as bad on a transcript as someone who was determined to have sexually assaulted someone.” Ovitt started the petition after discovering the policy when she reported her own sexual assault in November 2017, she said. Ovitt felt UVM’s disciplinary policies were not strict enough to fully protect students from future sexual assaults, she said. UVM Communications Director Enrique Corredera said that the University is aware of the national conversation happening around sexual misconduct on college campuses, but no plans are in the works to change the policy. “It has been a longstanding practice at the University based on established national best
@vermontcynic
practices to view the transcript strictly as an academic record,” Corredera said. The only way for the University to know if a student was dismissed from a previous institution for misconduct is if the student self-reports the information when applying, he said. UVM doesn’t investigate to confirm if a transfer student is telling the truth when self-reporting conduct issues, nor does the University indicate if a former UVM student has been dismissed for sexual misconduct, Corredera said. If legislation based off her petition were to pass in Vermont or nationally, UVM would be forced to change its policy, Ovitt said. Since late March 2018, Ovitt has received increased support from Vermont legislators, including Vermont Representative Barbara Rachelson, and Vermont Congressman Peter Welch, she said. Ovitt wrote to Welch in March, and when he came to an event at UVM they had the chance to discuss her petition and potential legislation, Welch said. “What Sydney’s talking about really makes sense,” he said. “I so appreciated her ad-
instagram.com/ vermontcynic
ALEK FLEURY/The Vermont Cynic
Sophomore Syd Ovitt has received state and national support for her Explain the Asterisk petition. The petition works to clearly identify students who have been dismissed for sexual assault.
vocacy ... and her acting so energetically to keep people from future harm.” Congresswoman Jackie Speier attempted to introduce a “Safe Transfer Act” in December 2016, which would have required universities to disclose on a student’s transcript if they were dismissed for sexual misconduct, Welch said. Asterisk continued on page 2
youtube.com/ cynicvideo
Celebrity campaigns for candidate Staff Report Democratic candidate for Vermont governor Christine Hallquist and actor Misha Collins discussed campaign issues in front of a crowd of students Wednesday in the Davis Center at a UVM College Democrats’ event. Hallquist made history as the first openly transgender candidate to win a major party’s nomination for governor. Collins is best known for his role on the the TV show “Supernatural.” Hallquist spoke to a packed Frank Livak Ballroom about the state of public education and young people in Vermont, outlining a “blueprint” to provide financially accessible college education to Vermont residents. “Youth don’t have the opportunity today they had years ago,” she said. “So it is my moral responsibility for you to get the same opportunity I did.” The proposed education platform includes free college education for children of families below the poverty line, Hallquist said. She hopes to later allow children of families at 200 percent of the poverty line to go to college for free, she said. The cost of college has risen 1,100 percent since 1978, Hallquist said. “My generation screwed this up,” she said. “I still have the opportunity to fix this before I leave this planet.” Hallquist decided to run for office in 2017 when she heard about four high school students who spoke out about the harassment they faced as Muslims from other Vermont residents, she said. Sophomore Allyson Werner was underwhelmed by Hallquist’s answers, and that Hallquist did not include an incentive for out of state students to stay in Vermont, Werner said. Werner’s main draw to the event was Collins, since she is a fan of his show, she said. Collins reached out to Hallquist’s campaign to set up the combined event, Hallquist said. “Misha is quite an activist, using his fame to make positive change,” she said. Read the rest at vtcynic.com/hallquist
www.
vtcynic.com