Yale students hit president with charges
Chris Gilion
Columbia Daily Spectator (Columbia U.)
NEW YORK (U-WIRE) — Seven
ty-six undergraduate students at
Yale University filed formal charges
against Yale President Richard
Levin on Thursday, claiming he vi
olated university bylaws in his
treatment of students, particularly
those exercising their freedom of
speech right.
If Levin is convicted by the Uni
versity Tribunal, he could face sus
pension or expulsion, a press re
lease by the Undergraduate Orga
nizing Committee states.
A letter submitted with the
charges states, “the seriousness of
(an expulsion) matches the seri
ousness with which we take
these issues.”
The letter cites the ongoing la
bor strife at Yale, in which almost
4,000 workers are still without re
newed contracts.
The press release argues that
Levin has violated bylaws requiring
administrators to “preserve mutu
al respect and charitable relations
within the Yale community.”
Yale freshman Thomas Framp
ton said Levin has done exactly
the opposite, saying his inactions
with regards to workers’ rights and
students’ rights have led to a crisis
on campus.
“We’ve approached him at open
forums,” Frampton said. “We’ve
tried informal sit-downs with him
where students felt disrespected or
shut down.”
Another charge states that Levin
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has misrepresented university poli
cy to the student body. Frampton
said he and other students were
leafleting near the Woolsey Rotun
da on campus and were harassed
by police.
“Repeatedly, President Levin
was asked why it happened,”
Frampton said. According to
Frampton, Levin said leafleting is
not allowed in that area, which
prompted Frampton and others to
research Yale policies.
“Nowhere it says leafleting is
(prohibited),” he said.
The third and fourth charges list
ed claim Levin has violated Yale’s
Freedom of Expression Policy, sti
fling free speech through the use of
university police.
“There’s a lot of students that
feel marginalized and intimidated,”
Frampton said.
Yale spokesman Tom Violante
declined to comment.
The letter from the students says
the charges are not a personal at
tack on Levin.
“We are asking nothing more
than that as university president
you will be held to the same stan
dards as you would hold your own
undergraduates,” the letter states.
The next step, Frampton said, is
unclear. He said an investigator will
most likely investigate the com
plaints to try to informally resolve
the problem. If it is not resolved, it
will go to trial before the University
Tribunal, he said.
Planning
continued from page 7 A
it is normal to question develop
ment in Eugene.
“I think there are always people
who are concerned about change
and the plan hopes to address their
concerns,” Ramey said.
He said the plan was particularly
aimed at addressing the abutment of
a low-density area with a high den
sity area — homes hitting Universi
ty buildings, so one of the key ele
ments for the plan is to create
graceful edges, or a smooth transi
tion between the two.
Many people have worried about
the East Campus Children’s Center,
a structure whose East 17th Avenue
and Moss Street site caused consid
erable controversy because its
brick-and-mortar style seemed not
to blend with a residential area.
An advisory group of randomly
selected east campus residents pro
vided some input when the Univer
sity began making changes to better
suit the building to the area.
The University is close to receiv
ing all of its permits to begin con
struction on the child care center,
but some area residents say they
have not been included enough in
the planning process.
However, University officials
maintain that they adjusted the
building plans to help the one-story
building mesh with the neighbor
hood, and also worked to solve pos
sible issues such as traffic conges
tion and parking.
Some also contend that the Uni
versity should not have sold the low
income houses on the property.
“I think that they’re not repre
senting the truth (at the open
house), and I think they need to be
called on it,” Osanka said. “There
was a young man who walked by
and he said ‘you’re tearing down my
house, man.’”
Yet, the University does own the
property, and tries to provide low
income housing in other areas.
Associate Vice President of Insti
tutional Affairs Jan Oliver said the
University originally bought this
area in the 1960s for residence halls,
but that it did not need the space at
the time, so they chose to build low
income housing for students.
Oliver added the plans seek not to
do harm, but to fulfill the Universi
ty’s mission to provide adequate fa
cilities for the student body.
“The educational community’s
needs sometimes come in conflict
with values around low-income
housing,” Oliver said.
Contact the reporter at
jilliandaley@dailyemerald.com.
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