A Communty's Standards

Going back to the Dershowitz event, I am left to wonder, was the problem a lack of clearly articulated standards?

I will be the first to admit, I did not set very clear standards about behavior when I began the event. Moreover, Dershowitz, at times, baited the crowd into bad behavior. Irrespective of Dershowitz's behavior, I should have told the audience and Dershowtiz what was acceptable and what was not. Part of the reason why I did not set standards was a lack of a universal, concise, and meaningful standard that I could draw upon.

Naturally we do have university polices; that does set standards of behavior, but I think what was missing yesterday was a standard set by the community of students. Doing so will create a student body which is familiar with the standard, appreciates, and even takes pride in their standard, as it would be a standard created by students for students.

I do not see this student created standards as superceding university policy. Rather this standard would be rooted in university policy, making code and rules palatable, portable, and understandable to everyday actual students. For an example check out UCLA's True Bruin program. According the program’s website, http://www.truebruin.ucla.edu/, True Bruins have integrity, strive for excellence, are accountable for their actions, and project respect. Such a program could go along way on any campus in improving student behavior, especially if it is created by students.

If UMass Boston is to continue the Voices of Vision forum, I believe a group of students should set clear a clear expectation about what conduct is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Doing so would allow a moderator to enforce the minimum level of behavior the community expects. In the long term the standard established for Voices of Vision could be the foundation then of a "True Beacon" program.