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Purpose
Statement of
Purpose
The Residential Judicial Council
pilot project was initiated to address the proliferation of disreputable
acts that affected Georgetown’s campus community during the 1999-2000
academic year. Such incidents reflected an atmosphere in which social
responsibility waned. Student apathy concerning common standards of
conduct resisted those measures taken by educators and administrators.
This new endeavor seeks not to create community for students at
Georgetown, but rather empowers students to conceive it themselves. In
changing the disciplinary system, specifically how incidents that violate
the University’s Student Code of Conduct are dealt with, the design of
the RJC has sought to design a system that works within the current
judicial system and that takes into account the structure of the
Georgetown University Honor Council. Encouraging social responsibility,
accountability, and trust are among the chief goals of the RJC. The
principal effect of this system is to create an environment where students
see themselves as part of a residential community and are held accountable
for any action that breeches the trust of that community through a process
that includes both students and University administrators.
Philosophy
The
philosophy behind the RJC is to have students encourage others to uphold
the rules and standards of our community. The judicial process of the RJC
empowers students to make decisions about community issues. The RJC
provides an opportunity for a student to appear before peers in place of
an administrative hearing officer.
Explicit Goals
It is our hope that an institutionalized,
campus-wide Residential Judicial Council has evoked
and will continue to evoke a more inclusive sense of responsibility at
Georgetown by:
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Decreasing friction between the student
body and the administration
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Empowering student peers to uphold
effectively Georgetown University's policies
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Creating a heightened awareness of
community standards among students
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Utilizing the hearing council’s awareness
of campus issues to arrive at sanctioning that is educational as well as
punitive.
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