8B -We Michigan Daily - Cr~ng the Code Tuesday, Feary 16, 1999
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ao n w ddyi ary
proesat e les gAdmitisaw i
pr"atA Duddag and marebd to frer
UJniety Preidnt Jaws Dud sad .
hotse. iAe most cvet, it stred a
day of the (Univety Bd of) Regs
meeng I tadi sad, decribing the
da when his Irons lawn, becae a cam-
grmund for students angered over the
imp Wntation of she Code of student
C1j c doci and its policies.
As evening approached, the swarming
mob of angry students dug holes in
)udcrstadt' yard to symbolize what
they fet waUs the niverity's attempt to
cover tp student freedom
"The holec were graves for burying
student right," Duderstadt said. "The
students pitched tents to stay the night
on my lawn uderstadts response to
the day-long
protest? A move 11ei
across town tos fist
the for s of
- evening at hleiseain
Ann Arbor resi- with intoxicants
dine. and harmful acts
I he students
who spent the
entire night to
show their 2 Uni
determination, Board of 1
left the next passes fil
morning and the Initiating
president's lawn formal juc
was repaired. structure
But Ouderstadt
said he will never forget the event - a
symbol of the continuing battle sur-
rounding student regulations that has
cxisted fr more than a century.
Looking now at the Code's list of vio-
lations and policies, it is hard to imag-
ine a time - as recently as 1992 -
when its implementation was uncertain.
Physically, the Code of Student
Conduct - a list of guidelines outlining
student behavior - has evolved from a
tiny black, passport-sized book in the
1920s to a complete compilation of stu-
dent rules mailed to first-year students.
More significantly, administrators
and students have gradually altered the
content of student rules and regulations
to match the values of the times.
"In some aspects, it is necessary to
change the Code," said Maureen
Hartford, vice president for student
affairs. "There is far more government
intervention in higher education now
than in the past, and this interaction is
always changing."
But even more than this are the emo-
tions that the evolution and implemen-
tation of the Code have stirred.
"I cannot say that the Code has pro-
duced greater civility: I do not know,"
said English and religion Prof. Ralph
Williams. "It outlaws certain forms of
activity; whether the fact of the Code
actually reduces the activity it prohibits, I
do not know. Most of the students I know
are profoundly civil people, intending to
be so, and so their lives are not likely to
be much inflected by it - save as it
might help them see possible unintended
characteristics or consequences of their
ways of thinking and speaking."
How it started
Although myths exist about periods
-of time when the University -had no
code of conduct, old student guide-
books - worn and faded - survive to
testify that rules and regulations have
always played a part in the lives of
University students.
Office of Student Affairs graduate
student assistant Charles Kawas wrote
in a report on the Code that the
University took a ."parental" role in
governing its students as early as the
19th Century.
Although students today are accus-
tomed to strict disciplinary procedures,
those who attended the University in the
early 1900s were subject to a more
unstructured disciplinary atmosphere. In
1912, the University Board of Regents
passed its first bylaw stating that "the
discipline of students ... shall be admin-
istered by a Board consisting of the pres-
ident and the deans of the department in
The regulations listed for students
included learning the alma mater and
having loyalty for their class - more
innocent than the rules governing sexual
harassment contained in the Code today.
Although the 1920s book does not
contain clearly-stated guidelines outlin-
ing the procedures taken if a student is
accused of violating a University poli-
cy, there is reference to a "warned list"
and "probation.' Hartford said the
codes of the past focused more on
"baby-sitting students" and also
focused on gender differences.
Changing Policies
It's hard to imagine a time when driving
a car down State Street would warrant as
much punishment as being caught with
liquor in a residence hall room today.
But in the 1930s, student operation of
motor vehicles on campus was a viola-
iversity
ns 1966: Standards
i, for Students
rules published, listing
rules governing
onduct. student conduct.
tory, the handbook began to list.
"Specific Standards of Conduct" - a
prelude to the current Code.
But policies familiar to students now
- including penalties against vandaliz-
ing property or making fake M-cards
- remained overshadowed by rules
stressing residence hall curfews.
"We had strict curfews," Ritter said,
adding that the times - 10 p.m. on
weekdays, 1 p.m. on Fridays and 12:30
a.m. on Saturdays (a "late night") -
were sometimes difficult to abide by.
"If we were late, we had to make up five
minutes of every minute. Our house-
mother stood at the door and clocked
you," Ritter grins. "Our housemother
didn't allow any hanky-panky.
"I was late once," Ritter said laugh-
ing. "But there always need to be rules,
within the limits. They have to bend
of '73 graduate Sherry Lessens, who
said the University didn't enforce strict
regulations during the late '60s.
"I don't even remember hearing
about any code of conduct," Lessens
said. " I though it was something new."
Lessens said the entire campus dur-
ing that time was like "East Quad is
now. There were lots of drugs. Drugs
were everywhere. You could walk down
the halls of the dorms and smell it."
But Hartford said administrators
made extraordinary efforts in '50s and
'60s to control students. "We've always
had codes at the University - as early
as 1902," she said. " I can't imagine
where these people were."
Positive feedback
The most recent code, implemented
several years ago, clearly defines the
"standards that fit the academic values
of the University,'
Hartford said.
And student
knowledge of the
Code has
increased with
time, Kawas said.
"As far as peo-
ple not knowing
that rules existed
in the '60s, that's
understandable,"
he said. "It wasn't
addressed proper-
ly. Now students
are starting to get
aware of the new
which the student is registered.'
"For the first 70 years, under the
leadership of presidents such as James
Angell and Henry Tappan, scholastic
and department marks were read aloud
to students and faculty," Kawas wrote.
"Delinquent students were dismissed.'
By 1922 - following the conclusion
of World War I - more students were
admitted to the University, calling for the
formation of the Committee on
Disciplines. The group worked with the
Office of the Dean of Students to enforce
the University's rules and regulations.
"My guess is that in the '20s ... stu-
dents were expected to memorize the
guidelines;' Hartford said. "The conse-
quences of disobeying at the time were
so severe."
In a small black book labeled
"Freshman Handbook" in tiny white let-
ters, the foreword served as an invitation.
"It is to be hoped that all of you will
carefully and thoroughly read the book
through from cover to cover" the fore-
word states. "For only by realizing the
proper attitude to assume ... can you be
assured of assimilating yourselves to
your best advantage, and Michigan's."
The first pages scanned by the new
class in 1928 include letters from now-
recognized names such as Joseph
Bursley and C.C. Little.
"In your choice be wise, courageous
and idealistic" Little wrote. "If you are,
Michigan will provide the setting for a
period of four of the happiest and finest
years of your life."
Although the text of the 1928 hand-
book claims "Michigan does not tie
down the members of her freshman
class by countless ridiculous and com-
plicated regulations" - basic guide-
lines for student behavior are listed on
-page30-.., --. ,,
1962: Joint 1973: Rules
Judiciary Council University
formed to attend Community a
to student by the Regen
misconduct. establish pro
acts andn
tion that was as natural as forbidding
women to enter men's living quarters.
The student handbook - revised in
May of 1937 - had evolved at this time
to a collection of strict rules and the title
was changed to "University
Regulations Concerning Student
Affairs, Conduct, and Discipline."
The text inside was broken into sec-
tions outlining the regulations of the
campus, making the policies appear
more serious - and making it clear that
enrollment in the University carried with
it obligations regarding student conduct.
"The University is a voluntary com-
munity," Hartford said. "Membership is
a privilege. We set rules that may be dif-
ferent than in other communities. And
the rules may not be so big of an issue
in other communities. They are a big
deal here."
As the nation completed its second
world war, the University's battle with
policies - which to discard and which
to keep - continued full strength. "It's
always hard to have a black-and-white
issue,' said Assistant to the vice presi-
dent for student affairs Sean Esteban
McCabe about the Code. "You can't
always say 'If X, then Y."'
Class of 1951 graduate Barbara
Ritter laughed as she recalled the
University's strict rules governing her
undergraduate years - making the
implementation of a student code seem
a fond memory.
"Oh, it was so obvious - very obvi-
ous - what the rules were," Ritter said,
chuckling as she remembered the regu-
lations she and her college chums
faced. "Mostly, they were connected
with dormitory behavior. Certainly no
males were allowed above the lobby, not
even fathers or grandfathers."
By this point in the University's his-
of the
adopted
nts to
ohibited
nalties.
with the times,
SS
5.
No Code?
"The code was always designed to be
'organic,' changing with the times to
respond both to student concerns and
needs and to the changing environment
of the University," Duderstadt said.
And indeed it is.
In days of the beat generation, battles
in Vietnam and the popularity of the
Beatles, rules developed to deal with
increased drug use and the important
issues of the era.
"Throughout this tumultuous time,
there still were University regulations
concerning student conduct and disci-
pline," Kawas wrote.
But things were different from decades
before. The Joint Judiciary Council,
formed nearly 10 years earlier to enforce
University policies, began enforcing only
selected rules and standards of conduct.
Even worse at the time was the change
that allowed women to go unchaperoned
into men's residences.
The result? A feeling that there were
no rules at all on a campus that, only a
few years earlier, prided itself on the
implementation of strict regulations.
"There were no rules that I was aware
of," said Jon Pack, who graduated in
1972. His voice became louder as he
recalled the lost days he described as
carefree. "It was only 25 cents if you
were caught with grass. The cops would
go through the Diag with hats, collect-
ing change for the violation."
Pack said he enjoyed college in a
time when students were treated with
more respect than they are in the '90s.
"Now, the college is trying to be a par-
ent, and that's not its business:' Pack said.
"It's not their job"
Pack's memories of the days of
"social experiment" are shared by Class
1988: "Hate 1998: Current
Speech Code" Cdrviewed.
addresses Fra eport
discrimination by gvnt Regents
students. Code this week.
revoked by-
Re ents-
code. And the University is trying to get
the word out."
Those who have experienced the
Code and its implementation, said
Pierpont Commons Director Michael
Swanigan, see that the Code allows the
University to "deal with bad situations
in good ways.
Swanigan likes to tell about the time
he was a part of the punishment - or
"learning process," he said with a smile
- because of a student's violation of
the Code.
"I worked with a student, one on one.
I was asked to take on the role of a men-
tor" Swanigan said. "We talked about
things he could have done differently."
Swanigan said the relationship
changed his life.
In the wake of past Code changes and
on the forefront of its revision, Hartford
said the Code itself still has the power to
spark self-examination.
"The intent of the University being a
strict sitter is gone,' Hartford said.
"Intent now is to lay out a set of expec-
tations for our students. The Code
,involves student choice and encourages
students to know their options.
- E ier's n ot eir de
respect an-i me eseet of oders is one
eaIa md mNt a sade can at e
w A i as saA. "a - al a a'ean
larmi ao' rea' t'o uiderstard one
a'co'aer and to e rs tme respe t
- Editor 's note: This article
originally ran in the Oct. 16, 1998
editin of Twh M4-'io'n f, nit