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This Week in FIREHistory: Hug at Your Own Risk at Gettysburg College
One year ago this week FIRE announced:
GETTYSBURG, Pa., May 11, 2006鈥擥ettysburg College鈥檚 Sexual Misconduct Policy is so broad in scope that it draws no distinction between an innocent, spontaneous hug and forcible rape. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (果冻传媒app官方) is calling for the repeal of this draconian policy, which prohibits most, if not all, of the sexual and even merely affectionate relations that take place on Gettysburg鈥檚 campus.
As we pointed out at the time:
鈥淭his policy can turn almost any student at Gettysburg into a criminal,鈥 stated FIREPresident Greg Lukianoff. 鈥淚n its quest to rid the college of a social evil, Gettysburg has decided to make everyone guilty, leaving students鈥 futures at the whim of the administrators.鈥
Gettysburg that 鈥渢hey enjoy the same rights鈥hat other citizens enjoy.鈥 Yet Gettysburg subjects its students to an arbitrary and overbroad Sexual Misconduct Policy that infringes on students鈥 right to due process. Under the policy, 鈥渃onsent鈥 to sexual interaction is defined as 鈥渢he act of willingly and verbally agreeing (for example, by stating 鈥榶es鈥) to engage in specific sexual conduct. If either person at any point in a sexual encounter does not give continuing and active consent, all sexual contact must cease, even if consent was given earlier.鈥 (Emphasis added.) The policy鈥檚 broad definition of sexual interaction includes not only sex acts but also 鈥渂rushing, touching, grabbing, pinching, patting, hugging, and kissing.鈥
Last November, FIREdescribed the effects of the policy thusly:
[B]y the very terms of the policy, husbands would have to ask permission to kiss their wives, boyfriends would have to ask permission to hug their girlfriends, and friends would have to ask permission to give an amiable pat on the back. And remember, failure to do so [is] deemed to be a form of 鈥渟exual assault.鈥
FIRE first wrote to Gettysburg on April 11, 2006, regarding this ridiculous policy that 鈥渄angerously trivializes sexual assault by equating heinous acts with innocent behaviors.鈥 Gettysburg president Katherine Haley defended the policy to FIREon April 27, 2006, arguing that the policy 鈥渞eflect(ed) good practice.鈥 Haley鈥檚 conception of 鈥済ood practice鈥 clearly differs from 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚; she believes it includes threats of punishment for innocuous acts of affection, while we believe such threats are dangerous to students鈥 freedom.
After FIREissued the above press release, exposing the absurdity of Gettysburg鈥檚 policy to the public, and writing another letter to the school on August 17, 2006, Gettysburg finally folded and agreed to reconsider its policies. But one year later the policy . FIREat Gettysburg still are not free to express spontaneous acts of affection.
Gettysburg, it is never too late to end this foolishness. We, and your students, are still waiting.
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