Senate, SGA dispute President on Ethics Act

October 29, 2008
By Ashley Rueff and Pete Nickeas
Staff Reporter

UIS' campus senate and student government association both took action this week disputing parts of President Joseph White's interpretation of the state ethics act.

A Sept. 18 memo from the University Ethics Office outlining the state ethics act raised First Amendment concerns among university community members.

White emailed the university community Oct. 6 and said employees can “attend partisan political rallies” and “wear partisan political buttons,” provided they are not on duty. He also said employees may display partisan bumper stickers on their vehicles.

On Friday, Oct. 24, a senate committee addressed White's Oct. 6 interpretation in a report presented to the campus senate. Two days later, SGA passed a resolution echoing the campus senate's First Amendment concerns.

“The current interpretation of the Act remains problematic because the prohibition of political apparel in the workplace violates students’ First Amendment rights,” the resolution reads.

The senate report and SGA resolution commend White for his interpretations regarding political rallies and bumper stickers.

However, both the report and resolution both ask White to reconsider his limitations on political apparel, which includes political buttons, t-shirts, and other attire.

The senate committee had problems with this interpretation, noting the difficulty in defining what constitutes a “workplace” on campus.

“Because there is no place on campus that is not someone's workplace, then prohibition covers the entire university,” the report said.

The committee also argued that there is no language in the act limiting an employee's freedom of expression, only their conduct. Also, many students who work on campus also live on campus, creating a unique situation for the students.

“I think it's really an important issue because these are the very things that differentiate us from other work places,” said Pat Langley, campus senate chair and faculty member.

Additionally, the committee reported the interpretation of the act “focused only on Democrats and Republicans, leaving out all other possible political parties.”

It adds that a broad interpretation of political issues could include also banning apparel in support of “rights of persons with disabilities, gays and lesbians, religious and ethnic minorities, or positions for or against abortion, etc.”

SGA expedited passage of the resolution by suspending its normal rules, allowing it to be passed immediately after introduction. The resolution was passed in advance of the Nov. 13 board of trustees meeting to be held at UIS.

The committee agreed to forward their report to President White, the ethics office and the Board of Trustees.

Senate committee member Bill Carpenter emphasized the need for the ideas stated in the report to extend past the written word.

“The beliefs that drive this report need to materialize in action and in statements and in behaviors,” Carpenter said. “Academics are great at writing papers and getting things into print, but we need to be better in enacting them.”