CSL hearing turns spotlight on controversial Source pieces

The Committee on Student Life (CSL) released a decision on May 10 finding The Primary Source, Tufts' conservative magazine, guilty of harassment and creating a hostile environment.

As a consequence of the verdict, the CSL declared that all pieces in the Source must now be attributed to their authors. Previously, many sections in the magazine were unsigned.

The CSL, which is comprised of students and faculty members, also recommended that "student governance consider the behavior of student groups in future decisions concerning funding and recognition," according to a copy of the decision that was sent to the Daily.

The verdict stems from an April 30 hearing during which two separate cases against the Source were heard. In one, David Dennis, an African-American senior, said that the Source's Dec. 6 carol "O Come All Ye Black Folk" constituted harassment and the creation of a hostile environment. In the other, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) brought the same two charges against the Source for its April 11 piece "Islam - Arabic Translation: Submission." Both of these Source pieces were unsigned.

Junior Alison Hoover, who was Editor-in-Chief of the Source when the carol was published, and junior and current Editor-in-Chief Matthew Gardner-Schuster, under whose tenure the piece on Islam was published, are both on the CSL and recused themselves from their positions for the hearing, during which Gardner-Schuster testified. Both also directed all questions to senior and Source Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Douglas Kingman, who represented the Source at the hearing along with senior Jordan Greene.

Kingman called the decision that the CSL released the unfair result of a "show trial."

The hearing, which lasted five and a half hours, became "an airing of grievances against all ills on campus, both real and perceived, which were then attributed to the existence of The Primary Source," he said.

Kingman said that during the proceedings, the evidence presented was "off-topic to the allegations at hand" and that he was disappointed by the behavior of the audience, which he described as "very rowdy at times," and of CSL Faculty Chair Barbara Grossman, who he said had several "inappropriate outbursts."

"We ... did not think the hearing was particularly balanced when [Grossman] related political statements made in The Primary Source to spray painting swastikas on the side of synagogues," Kingman said.

Grossman, who chairs the Department of Dance and Drama, has repeatedly declined to do a phone interview with the Daily, but has issued three separate statements via e-mail since the verdict was released. In one, she said that while finding appropriate and balanced consequences for The Primary Source was difficult, the CSL's decision to rule against it was "unequivocal."

The seven voting members on the CSL panel who heard the case voted unanimously against the Source on three of the four charges. On the charge of harassment in Dennis' case, the vote was 6-1 against the Source.

Dennis and junior Shirwac Mohamed, who represented the MSA during the proceedings along with sophomore Nayema Khan, said that they were happy with the verdict.

"I think it's a step in the right direction," Mohamed said. He called it a "very smart decision" and said he is happy that it "did not go to any extremes" by derecognizing the Source.

Dennis also said it was "a very intelligent decision," but that he would have preferred one that went further. "I hoped that the CSL would take care of the issue and just derecognize them," he said.

The verdict that the CSL released relied heavily on passages in The Pachyderm, Tufts' student handbook, which defines harassment as involving "attitudes or opinions that are expressed verbally or in writing, or through behavior that constitutes a threat, intimidation, psychological attack or physical assault." Harassment is "unacceptable at Tufts [and] will be addressed with prompt and decisive action whenever it occurs."

The handbook also says that, "Members of the Tufts community should be able live, study, and participate in university life as equals. Any behavior that undermines this spirit of community interferes with an individual's growth and well-being while at Tufts."

These passages were quoted in the decision, which noted that "although students should feel free to engage in speech that others might find offensive and even hurtful, Tufts University's non-discrimination policy embodies important community standards of behavior that Tufts, as a private institution, has an obligation to uphold."

Mohamed and Dennis said they like the CSL's requirement that all pieces in the Source be signed because it will require authors to take responsibility for their contributions.

Kingman called the requirement "redundant" because all unsigned content has the implicit approval of the editorial board and can be attributed to it. The decision, however, requires that all published material be "attributed to named author(s) or contributor(s)."

Grossman declined to comment as to whether or not the Source would be in compliance with the decision if it modifies its behavior only by attributing certain pieces to its editorial board rather than to specific authors, but Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman, who serves as a non-voting member on the CSL, said that in his opinion this would be sufficient.

Beyond that, it is still unclear how the requirement that all pieces be signed will be enforced, as the decision does not stipulate any specific penalties for noncompliance.

Also absent in the decision is any requirement that the Source refrain from harassment or creating a hostile environment in the future.

Reitman acknowledged that there is a certain degree of ambiguity in punishing harassment by requiring that pieces be signed rather than putting specific penalties in place for future offenses, but he said that it was very difficult for the committee to provide a punishment that serves what it considers to be a good end without involving itself in censorship.