UC Debates Date Rape Role

Just days into the Undergraduate Council's new Rhew administration, prominent council executives are disagreeing over whether the body should address the controversial campus date rape issue.

Newly-elected Council Chair Robert C. Rhew '92 has said he wants the body to form a committee to investigate the matter, but other council leaders may not allow him to do so.

Earlier this fall, The Crimson published controversial remarks on date rape attributed to Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education Jeffrey Wolcowitz that brought a storm of protest from campus women's groups and concerned students.

Jewett later said the remarks were taken out of context, but agreed to form a task force composed of students, faculty and administrators to devise a new University policy on the issue.

But according to Rhew, it is the council's responsibility to form its own committee to look into the affair, despite the presence of the task force. "We should have something important to say about issues we've hashed over before," he said earlier this week.

"It's not one of those issues we should go around pursuing because it's a hot issue today. It's a tremendously important issue that should be discussed beyond a task force," Rhew said.

But at the first meeting of the council's newly-elected executive board Wednesday night, Rhew met with fierce opposition to the idea of a special committee to deal with date rape and sexual harrassment. Several council executives said they felt that a council committee would be unnecessary in light of the University's task force.

"We would be undermining all their work," said Social Committee co-Chair Maitri Chowdhary '93.

"If it's in the UC's jurisdiction to do anything constructive, it isn't now, it's when the task force comes to its conclusions," said Residential Committee Chair Hillary K. Anger '93. "It would anger the people who actually have been working on this issue."

But some said the council should provide an independent student voice. "We should not really bother about whether we're angering the task force or not," said Finance Committee Chair Kabir Misra '92.

Task force student members were chosen four months ago through an informal application process, according to Emily M. Tucker '93, who is the student co-chair of the task force.

Council Hubris?

"I don't think it's right to ignore an issue and then turn around and say, 'Wait a minute, I was excluded because I didn't care four months ago,'" Anger said. "Hubris is the word that comes to mind."

But Rhew and his supporters say the council can add an additional perspective to the controversial issue.

"It would provide the student body with two different approaches to the same problem," Misra said. "It's a major problem on campus. Maybe the UC would provide a more diverse...committee."

"We're not responding to the task force, we're doing our own work here," Rhew said at the meeting. "There are a lot of people who are interested who felt excluded from the task force."

The issue has not yet been brought to the floor of the council, where the full 88-member body must ratify the committee.