Student's Rights Initiative
Aims to inform W&M students of their rights to ensure that students of all identities and citizenship statuses are confident in asserting their rights when confronted with police interaction.
The Student’s Rights Initiative (SRI) aims to inform WM students of their rights to ensure that students are confident in asserting their rights when confronted with police interaction. We have observed situations in which students put themselves in dangerous positions (especially when alcohol is involved) because they are unsure of what their rights are.
In understanding the nuance of this issue, this project hopes to educate students to have:
- a clear understanding of basic constitutional and WM student rights
- an expanded cultural, racial, LGBTQ+, and neurodiverse consciousness of rights issues
Our two-pronged approach
The Student's Rights Card
We hope to create an informational card and awareness campaign on rights (both Student Conduct and US/VA Legal) that WM students enjoy on and off campus. We have observed situations in which students put themselves in dangerous positions - especially when alcohol is involved - because they are unsure of what their rights are. This card, and its associated education & awareness sessions, will contain information on WM students’ rights, especially in regard to Student Conduct and their individual constitutional rights and civil liberties (whether they are a U.S. citizen or non-citizen, U.S./VA resident, or an undocumented individual).
Education Sessions
More than just providing an extra resource, we hope to educate students through eFYI, ResLife, and RSOs, exposing students to discussions concerning the implications of minority status on WM students’ rights. After the education awareness & discussion sessions at the beginning of the year, our hope is that students will be able to keep the card on their person and will be able to refer to it if they are put in a position where they are interacting with the Conduct Council, with the police, or other dangerous situations.
Orientation Guide
To help incoming students learn more about how to exercise their rights, we have created a guide with a non-exhaustive list of rights and resources. If you have any questions or suggestions related to our guide, please contact us! See our guide here!
Project Leads
- SRI Founder & Project Co-Director: Jahnavi Prabhala, Project Co-Directors: Yasmeen Attia, Vicka Heidt, Joshua Ramdass
- SRI Marketing Lead: Julian Allison
- Interorganizational Liaison: Taylor Fox
- SRI Content Leads: Lauren Miller & Georgia Clark
- CHAP Liaison: Aidan Gossett
- Conduct Liaison: Abdi Hassan & Kate Murphy
- SRI Police Policy Task Force Lead: Joshua Ramdass & Abi Gutleben
- SRI Training Task Force Lead: Tuka Alsoufi
General Inquiries: StudentsRightsInitiative@gmail.com
