Members of the Scripps Associated Students (SAS), the student governing body at Scripps College, have proposed a bias incident reporting mechanism for students to anonymously report instances of discrimination by professors and fellow students. When questioned by the Independent regarding potential misuse of the mechanism, SAS representatives said it “is something [they] are taking very seriously and a topic [they] are discussing amongst [themselves] and with administration.”
According to a report by The Student Life (TSL), members of SAS were “motivated to implement these changes because of the students at Scripps.” Per the report, “Scripps students and the community at large, including our alum, are very energized and determined to create change. It’s really incredible [to be] able to work with these types of people on issues we all find important.”
When the Independent reached out to SAS for information on how the mechanism would work, we were informed that “The bias incident reporting mechanism initiative is still in a very preliminary stage.” SAS’s representative said that:
“We are currently in the process of meeting with administration to discuss the feasibility of such an initiative and how it can best be implemented and used on our campus…Given that we are still working out the details for this initiative, we will not be sharing additional information about the mechanism until our plans have been finalized.”
SAS’s representative also expanded upon the reasons for developing the mechanism. According to her statement:
“The purpose of establishing a mechanism for students to report bias incidents is to increase accountability and awareness around issues of racism and discrimination within the Scripps community. But, as said previously, the details of this initiative, and how the mechanism will be used, are still in the discussion stage.”
When asked about how to prevent potential misuse of the mechanism, SAS’ representative responded that “this is something [they] are taking very seriously and a topic [they] are discussing amongst [them]elves and with administration.”
This is not the first time students have tried implementing anonymous reporting mechanisms on campus. In 2018, student activists at Pomona drew condemnation from the administration for making use of “blacklists” that allowed students to anonymously add the names of individuals considered “problematic” to documents circulated online before on-campus events, thereby barring them from entry. This June, student activists demanded administrators develop “a bias and microaggression reporting system outside of the normal incident reporting system at the colleges.” If SAS’s mechanism is implemented, however, it would be the first such system developed in an official capacity by a student government at the Claremont Colleges.
Jordan N. Esrig contributed reporting.