The nondiscrimination statement and separate protest policy continue to be topics of interest on campus. It’s important to refer to the nondiscrimination statement as just that, a statement. In a recent interview held with President Sterritt I was told that while many students consider the statement a policy, it’s not. To confuse it with a policy would require the institution to write an entire course of action dedicated to nondiscrimination, similar to how the institution developed a written code of conduct in response to the protests. A procedure would describe the statement better since a procedure is an established way of doing things, and the institution already has an established way of handling discrimination. According to President …show more content…
This is because private institutions don’t actually operate under the First Amendment, meaning that while you maintain your constitutional rights off-campus the same does not necessarily apply on-campus. President Sterritt made the point that “our protest policy is not unconstitutional [since] private institutions get to decide time, place, and manner.” Technically, Salem is providing what they promised which is freedom of expression under their moral standards, which is perfectly legal. Whenever you are accepted into a private institution you are immediately bound to their values, since President Sterritt also informed me that Salem has no political view, which is hard to believe, it only has a system of values that it operates on. Salem’s statement of values can be read in our student handbook, but generally follows as this: Learning Grounded in the Pursuit of Excellence, Learning Grounded in Community, Learning Grounded in Responsibility to Self and the World. We can all assume that the values instilled within the nondiscrimination statement come from the general knowledge that if you are not a woman, you cannot be accepted into an all women’s