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California State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson’s (D) bill, which would allow community colleges in the state to punish students for off-campus sexual assaults, was approved by the state senate unanimously this past week.
Her bill was introduced back in February. It now awaits Governor Jerry Brown’s signature to become law.
Jackson said the bill’s success was backed by the common understanding that all college students from UCs [University of California], CSUs [California State University] and community colleges should be held accountable for crimes such as sexual assault.
“I think, clearly, if everyone has to meet to the same standards, there won’t be the sense that someone can get away with something that another can’t,” Jackson said. “So there’s going to be accountability, and hopefully there will be disciplinary action in both circumstances.”
According to Jackson, the bill mandates punishments such as expulsion and suspension for students found guilty of sexual assault regardless of whether or not the incident happened within or outside of campus boundaries.
“We will be monitoring this to make sure that disciplinary proceedings are effective and are pursued when there are allegations of rape and sexual assault,” Jackson said. “It is my expectation that I have discussed with the universities that they will follow this law and abide by it.”
Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) President Lori Gaskin said the unanimous passage of the bill gives the administration jurisdiction to punish crimes that happen outside of campus to ensure the safety of the student body.
“Our first priority is for student safety,” Gaskin said. “We do not tolerate violations of our college student code of conduct on any of our three campuses, and this measure would extend that authority for sexual assault and other serious student misconduct outside our campus boundaries.”
The Nexus’ story says that the UC and CSU systems do not have “the authority to punish students for incidents that happen off campus grounds;” however, on August 17th Jackson herself reiterated what she had said back in March — that “UC and CSU campuses already have such extended jurisdictions in place.”
Her bill, she says, merely sets the same standard(s) for all state-affiliated colleges.
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