'FOX News' Highlights Wesleyan's Student Rights Abuses

FOXNews.com is the latest to draw scrutiny to Wesleyan University's overbearing treatment of its students with its new policy prohibiting them from "participating in social activities" on the property of private organizations unrecognized by Wesleyan.

Unsurprisingly, the front-page FOXNews.com story by Patrick Manning detects a decidedly sour mood among Wesleyan's student body:

"It feels like you are still living with mom and dad," said Tom Miceli, a junior at the small Middletown, Conn., college.

They say the wording of the policy is unclear, and the college has gone too far under making the new revisions.

"Students want to be treated like they are adults," junior Jeff Tanendaum said.

[...]

Miceli, president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, which is affiliated with the university, said the rules give him anxiety about what the university can do under the new policy.

"It's a slippery slope. If they can pass this, what else can they pass?" he said.

Wesleyan University's student body president, Micah Feiring, said the new revisions were made without any student input.

"The administration is usually very good about working with students," he said, referring to policy revisions. "But this time they did not."

Manning's article also quotes FIRE's Adam Kissel on the effects of the new policy, if carried out to the letter:

"The way the policy is written, all kinds of private associations all kinds of private organizations are in the same situation," he said.

If students don't get approval of where the social function is being held, they could get penalized, Kissel said.

"It means going to a church service, going to the Elks, going to the Salvation Army where the Kiwanis meets."

Finally, Manning notes last Friday's student rally at Wesleyan's Usdan University Center, and reports that 450 students signed a petition calling for Wesleyan to reconsider the policy.

FIRE will, of course, continue to provide Torch readers with updates and further coverage. In the meantime, dozens of FIRE supporters have written directly to Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth calling for Wesleyan to respect its students' rights, and you can join them by writing in here.

Thanks to Manning and FOXNews.com for giving further national exposure to this important student rights issue.