I wrote an article last semester about this school’s policy of Failure to Act, a policy that I see as unfair, unjust and a means for campus safety to write up students when none of their other numerous policy infractions apply. I thought maybe my article would resonate with the reasonable members of the administration at this school, or at least notify the school deans and campus safety that the student body is aware of their sketchy methods.
Boy was I wrong.
Since the beginning of the semester, a housefellow and popular campus community member has lost his job and college education over a Failure to Act charge, and a large number of frisbee team members have been hit with the same charge. This is extremely frustrating to me. For my last article, I interviewed Dean Cardwell about Failure to Act, and she informed me that “people aren’t getting Disciplinary Probation for Failure to Act.” Well, either the policy was changed in the past three months and no one was informed, or I got straight up lied to. I’ve spoken with frisbee team members, and at least three have told me that they received Disciplinary Probation/Warnings off a Failure to Act charge alone, a punishment Cardwell told me was not possible. At least one of these individuals received DP2, meaning they are one strike away from being suspended or expelled because they failed to report a party where Honor Code and/or Student Code of Conduct Violations took place. This harsh disciplinary treatment seems mind-boggling until you think about Sean Soucy.
Sean, who was a literal saint on campus (the guy knew everyone), was forced to leave the school because of a clause on his Housefellow contract closely resembling failure to act that stipulates he must report instances of policy infractions. His forced departure represents one of the most cold-blooded actions I’ve ever seen from a college that prides itself on putting student interests first. I would say that Cardwell betrayed me because of the untruths she told me in our interview, but I can’t. Using the word ‘betray’ in that sense would mitigate its power and do a disservice to Sean, who has been grossly mistreated after giving his all to this school.
I hope this doesn’t come as a surprise to any readers, but when I say the administration of this school doesn’t give a fuck about you, look no further to the treatment of Sean Soucy. This school wants your parents’ money, plain and simple. If Sean payed full tuition, he would still be a student here, albeit one likely on Disciplinary Probation. I know of full tuition students at this school who have committed multiple sexual harassments, been caught with criminal amounts of drugs in their room, or cheated on final exams. They recieve a semester suspension, a probably hefty fine, and then they and their money are welcomed back to the Conn community with open arms. Do any of those things as a financial aid student and good luck packing your bags and applying to state schools. Money talks, my friends, money talks.
If anyone’s looking for a real Failure to Act charge, take a look at how campus safety has handled the serious security breaches this school has suffered so far this semester. There have been two break-ins in the village and one robbery in the past couple weeks; accounts from residents of the apartments in both cases state that it took fifteen to thirty minutes for campo to respond. Max’s article has much more of the specifics from these cases so I redirect you to read it if you’re looking for the details. A lot can happen in fifteen to thirty minutes when a home intruder is in the picture. Campus safety also doesn’t seem to get along well with the New London police, who reportedly were on the scene of the robbery well before the campo van rolled up. I’m sure that all students here are familiar with the shower incidents during this school year, a case campus safety and Title IX investigators tried unsuccessfully to crack for months. They even tried locking the doors to dorms! It appears like the New London PD took only a few days to find a primary suspect once campus safety allowed them to investigate. It’s almost as if campus safety and the administration don’t know how to handle an actual police investigation.
Look at the name, “Campus Safety,” and then look at their actions. They, and the administration that they work for, are extremely effective at getting college kids in trouble for a variety of policy infractions. And then fining them. They seem to be wholly ineffective, however, when the actual safety of students is on the line. This is a massive problem for a college to have, and they seem to be more concerned with keeping the real police far away from campus grounds.
It is entirely apparent after the events of the past few weeks, from the Ridges to the Winches to the Plant showers, that students are not safe on this campus, despite what the “Campus Safety bulletin” may say. I ask you then, Dean Cardwell, when a strange man is standing by your bed at 4 AM, who are you going to call? You only have fifteen to thirty minutes. •
