Last Spring the Duke Student Government Judiciary ruled against senior Justin Robinette in a discrimination suit, in which Robinette alleged he was impeached as club chair of the Duke College Republicans because he is gay.
The DSG Judiciary declined to hear a second suit filed by Robinette Aug. 20. Justices deemed the new evidence “student-on-student harassment,” which does not fall under the Judiciary’s purview.
Although we are disappointed that Robinette and senior Cliff Satell have been unable to settle their dispute with the club through a formal mediation process sponsored by the Office of Student Conduct, we will focus our attention on the roughly 50-page packet of e-mails, comments and other pieces of evidence he supplied to the DSG Senate in his most recent suit.
After reviewing this packet, the editorial board reached several conclusions.
First, Robinette may never prove conclusively that he was impeached on the basis of his sexual orientation, but the packet of evidence he supplied should prompt swift action on the part of the Senate.
Second, this packet of hateful materials proves that members of the College Republicans used their e-mail listserv to engage in conversations that were not only offensive to homosexuals but also racially insensitive and anti-Semitic.
As the body tasked with maintaining the charter status of student organizations, the DSG Senate must respond to this unacceptable behavior with punitive action. We commend senators for voting to defund the DCR last week. Now, the Senate should follow through on its vote by stripping the College Republicans of its charter and status as a recognized group.
We believe this is the only appropriate punishment for a club that has fostered a “culture of discrimination” for too long—a culture that Robinette himself may well have perpetuated.
The DSG Senate should take action by punishing the group and not its individual members. The College Republicans as the group currently exists should be disbanded.
Third, we recognize that the absence of a Republican student club would be a detriment to campus culture, and therefore we call on the DSG Senate to work with interested students toward the aim of chartering a similar group in Fall 2011.
Fourth, DSG President Mike Lefevre, a senior, was not justified in his veto of the Senate’s decision to defund and move to de-charter the club. The resignation of two individual members of the DCR executive board does not remedy what the Senate has correctly identified as a broader issue of intolerance. Lefevre should step aside and allow the Senate to decide the fate of this student organization.
Finally, it is unclear why the Student Organization Finance Committee should determine the final status of the DCR charter. The DSG Senate is constitutionally bound “to charter or recognize all organizations established by and for undergraduates.” Both Lefevre and SOFC should recognize that this situation demands clear and coherent action, and that the power to take that action rests with the Senate.
The packet of evidence Robinette produced does little to prove his specific claims that his former club discriminated against him, but the hateful content this document contains is no less damaging because of it.
The DSG Senate should punish the Duke College Republicans by removing the group’s charter and stripping it of its status as a recognized group.
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