Breitbart reports that students at Syracuse University can now be punished for merely witnessing a racial incident.
The university recently announced that it will be implementing this change to the Code of Student Conduct for the upcoming fall semester.
“Pivotal moment”
The announcement was made by Keith A. Alford, Syracuse University’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, in an email to the school community.
“We are witnessing a pivotal moment of change for our country,” Alford began. “There is an unprecedented acknowledgment of the devastating impact of anti-Blackness and systemic racism, and newborn hope that hearts and minds are changing with peaceful protests and fierce calls for action.”
Alford went on to talk about how Syracuse University plans to address “acts of hate” on campus.
“We reject all acts of hate, but we can’t address each one with just words,” Alford said. “What we can and must do is the collective work necessary to confront it every time. Any act of discrimination or harassment experienced on campus should be reported . . .”
More severe punishment needed
Later on in the email, Alford mentioned the change to the Code of Student Conduct.
“The Code of Student Conduct has been revised, based on your input, to state that violations of the code that are bias-motivated—including conduct motivated by racism—will be punished more severely,” Alford wrote. “The University also revised the code to make clear when bystanders and accomplices can be held accountable. The code will be prepared and distributed for students to sign in the fall.”
In other words, it now appears that students can be punished for merely witnessing a “bias-motivated” or race-motivated act. The question, of course, is “what will that punishment be?”
Based on Alford’s own language, it sounds like the punishment – again, for only witnessing a violation – is going to be fairly serious. After all, he says that “we can’t address each [act of hate] with just words” and that violators of the new Code of Student Conduct “will be punished more severely.”
Looking forward
To say the very least, this latest move by Syracuse University is as ridiculous as it is unAmerican. Since when do we punish mere bystanders, let alone bystanders to something that isn’t even a crime but a “biased-motivated” violation of a student conduct code, whatever that means?
What’s next? Thought crimes?
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