Where there is a north, there is a south, where there is a ying, there is a yang and when there is a voice of rationality, there is the Binghamton University Office of Student Conduct.
I’ve been a student here for three years. Throughout those three years I’ve heard more stories about the Office screwing over a person about alcohol than I’ve seen sandwiches successfully made by Sodexo.
I understand BU takes underage drinking very seriously, as it should — drinking can obviously be very dangerous. But it’s absurd to see a student penalized for something as simple as being inside of a room where there are people drinking, people who may in fact be of legal drinking age.
Besides the occurrences of writing up non-drinkers, some resident assistants, under Student Conduct’s puppet strings, will look for any reason to write a person up. I’ve been threatened with a write-up for drinking water out of a red cup in the hallway. I quickly spray-painted it blue to avoid penalization.
I find the situation rather ironic as there are also RAs who, in the comfort of their own single rooms, single-handedly break the rules they are supposed to enforce. Nowadays, they are instrumental in handing out probation and community service for the most minor offenses, like they’re throwing beads on Mardi Gras.
Last year, I was lucky enough to encounter the Student Conduct faculty myself. I asked them if they had a quota of a certain number of guilty students they had to find and punish. There is, in fact, no official quota, but whether we’re discussing the technicalities of the quota being official or unofficial, the Student Conduct faculty would not remain faculty members if they never found anyone guilty — there would be no need for them.
It’s not difficult to imagine that they would therefore want, and sometimes even push, to find students guilty.
Binghamton University Student Conduct is a plague to our campus and collegiate community. This isn’t the first time a corrupt organization has spawned and, let’s face it, this is probably not the most offensive crime against humanity — but this is our current reality.
You would think that with the thousands of dollars students pay to attend BU, the money would go toward a better system to control the way said students behave.
Whether or not the conduct system at BU has been completely broken, we can count on it to make our lives worse. This leaves the only option to live a humble life without any social interaction on campus, but don’t forget the blue spray paint.