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Suspended in Crackdown on Student Misbehavior
Campus administrators went on the offensive against student misbehavior this week, suspending five undergraduates who face court charges in two separate incidents, including a late night campus disturbance during a power outage last weekend. The suspensions were announced Tuesday by Jo-Anne Vanin, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs and dean of students. The sanctions remain in effect pending campus judicial proceedings. Three of the students who were suspended are charged with the rape of a 15-year-old Amherst girl in February. The other two students who were suspended were arrested early Saturday morning by UMass Police during an outbreak of violence and vandalism in Southwest. A regional power failure that affected the campus and area towns sent students outside at about 3:18 a.m., according to campus officials. Police said about 200-300 students gathered near Coolidge Tower after a loud firecracker exploded. Some of the students dragged a security desk outside and set it ablaze. When Amherst firefighters arrived on the scene, they were reportedly pelted with bottles, cans and other objects. Police later reported that several cars and dorm windows were also broken in the residence area. UMass Police called in 10 off-duty officers and requested assistance from area communities to help deal with the disturbance. The Hadley Police and State Police each dispatched a cruiser to the scene. Police arrested two students, John M. Moran, 20, of Arlington, and Jared Thor Bruun, 21, of Acton. Both were charged with disorderly conduct and inciting to riot. Moran faces an additional charge of burning personal property worth more than $25. According to police, both students exhorted the crowd to defy public safety personnel and Moran was observed throwing a rug onto the bonfire. Both men pleaded innocent in Northampton District Court on April 10 and their cases were continued to May 11. They were suspended from the University the next day. In a statement issued Tuesday, Chancellor David Scott condemned the violence and destruction and promised to take a tough stand against other unruly and disruptive behavior. "We will not tolerate the behavior of a few disruptive types and we are taking the strongest action possible under the law and the Code of Student Conduct," Scott said. Scott said he is ordering the installation of video cameras both outside and in the entryways to buildings in the Southwest residential area. He said: "The time has come for cameras to ensure the safety of the vast majority of our students who find this kind of behavior abhorrent." The chancellor has also asked the Dean of Students Office to look into holding groups of students responsible for costs when University property is deliberately damaged or destroyed. He said, "I see no reason why University or taxpayers' funds should be used to pay for damage caused by a small number of hooligans." Scott emphasized that the large majority of UMass students do not take part in such behavior and said "a small minority" damages the campus's reputation. Scott also called for a meeting with the leadership of the Student Government Association to discuss the installation of video cameras and other campus safety issues and to seek the support of the leadership of the student body in making the campus safer. According to the University's Code of Student Conduct, the dean of students has the authority to impose such restrictions on a student, without prior notice, "whenever there is ground to believe that the student is an imminent threat to himself or herself, to others, or to property, or the cause of serious disruption to the University community." The judicial process offers students an opportunity to meet with a University official to discuss the charges and a hearing if necessary. |
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