University of Virginia Library

Seeks Referendum

UUS Contests New Code Of Conduct

By Mike Gartlan
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The Union of University Students
has drawn up a petition which calls for a
referendum to contest the recently
adopted student code of conduct.

The petition requires 600 student
signatures before any referendum can be
held. It contains the wording of the
referendum question and calls for a
conduct code drawn up by the students
themselves.

The referendum reads, "Whereas
George III is dead but his spirit lives on,
and whereas the state of Virginia proudly
proclaims Sic Semper Tyrannis, and
whereas the administration's code of conduct
does not have the just consent of the governed,
the administration's code of conduct shall be
replaced by standards of conduct drawn up by
an ad hoc committee appointed by the Student
Council and adopted by the student body."

Peter Daly, who chairs the student grievance
committee of the Union of University Students,
told The Cavalier Daily yesterday that he hopes
to have the required number of signatures by
the middle of next week.

Mr. Daly said that there would be sign-up
tables on the second floor of Newcomb Hall
and in the lobby of the Law School today and
that there would be other tables in the vicinity
of Cabell Hall as soon as possible.

Mr. Daly also said that this petition was "the
first step" of the Union's efforts to have the
conduct code changed. He said that if they
receive the required number of signatures that a
referendum would follow as soon as possible.

If the referendum passes, Mr. Daly added, an
ad hoc committee would be formed to draw up
their own rules of conduct and then these rules
would have to be approved by the students in
another referendum.

He said that he hoped the initial referendum
question would be included on the ballot in the
special election in early November, which will
be held in order to select two new
representatives to the Student Council, and to
consider the new Senior Class constitution and
elect new officers.

Opposition to the present conduct rules
appears to center around the interim suspension
clause contained in these rules. This sanction
for prohibited conduct may be imposed upon
any student, depending on the offense.

Interim suspension means "the temporary
suspension by an official of the University of a
student who engages in disruptive conduct
which poses a substantial threat to the health or
safety of other members of the University or to
University property, pending a hearing on such
offense."