PSA on probation
Student Activities puts
PSA on probation
One of Notre Dame's loudest voices for change, the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA), may be quieter for the next eight months after the Office of Student Activities placed the group on probation for holding an unregistered demonstration.
The probation, announced Friday in a letter from Joe Cassidy, director of Student Activities, to PSA president Joe Smith, will extend through the fall semester. During that time, any violation of University policy, including a minor transgression, could result in the PSA losing its official University recognition. Leaders said Tuesday they will be careful to avoid that penalty.
The violation occurred on Feb. 19 outside the Junior Parents' Weekend Mass when four PSA members were distributing flyers that called for the University to take a stronger stand against sweatshop labor. The group did not register the leafleting with the Office of Residence Life and was asked to disperse by Cassidy.
After initially resisting, the group decided to stop distributing leaflets, according to Smith and Aaron Kreider, a PSA member who organized the protest.
Cassidy met with Kreider, and later with Smith, to discuss the incident. Cassidy also met with the pair and PSA faculty advisor Ed Manier before determining their sanction.
Du Lac, the student handbook, requires that all demonstrations be registered in writing with the vice president for Residence Life. PSA leaders admit that, while they have registered demonstrations in the past, they neglected to do so this time.
"We didn't think it would be too big a deal," Kreider said. "We were just passing out leaflets."
Leafleting is not specifically mentioned in du Lac, which only discusses "demonstrations," but Cassidy said demonstrations are defined as an event in which a group is "trying to draw attention to a cause."
The PSA has passed out leaflets in the past without reprisal, according to Kreider. But in this case, the PSA brought this demonstration to the attention of Student Activities when Kreider asked the office where the Mass would be held.
Ryan Willerton, student development coordinator, told Kreider the Mass location, and reminded him of the registration requirement in an email. When the PSA did not register, Cassidy argued, the club "knowingly and purposely violated University policy."
"It was kind of tough on this one," he said. "They knew it up front."
The PSA will file an appeal with Father Mark Poorman, vice president for Student Affairs, according to Kreider.
If their appeal is denied, the group's leaders say, they will exercise caution in the coming months.
"It will definitely affect what the club does. We'll be very careful not to get another violation," Smith said. "We'll be more conservative than usual, which is against us being a liberal club."
No group on probation has been stripped of its club status since at least the mid-'80s, Cassidy said.
The PSA was granted official University club status in August 1998, but had existed for much of the previous semester as an unrecognized group. University-approved clubs have access to the Club Resource Center, permission to meet on campus and are eligible for funding from Student Activities funding. The PSA did not receive any University funds this year, Smith said.
All News Stories for Thursday, April 13, 2000
