The Chippewa Valley Post has never, since its launch almost five years ago, expressed its own opinion in this space.
Rather, we’ve encouraged commentary from our readers.
Now, it’s time for us to jump in. That’s because we believe UW-Eau Claire is wrong in refusing to let the community know in general terms the penalties imposed on the five student-athletes who posted racist Snapchat messages last month.
To be fair, we think UW-EC Chancellor James Schmidt would prefer to be transparent about what type of punishment was meted out but feels constrained by an opinion from Wade Harrison, UW-System senior legal counsel.
What’s at issue here is the language of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and how it should be interpreted and applied. In response to a UW-EC request for guidance, Harrison wrote that FERPA specifies that “no information falling within the definition of ‘final results of any disciplinary proceeding’ may be disclosed.”
He added that “sanction(s) imposed on the students, if any” are included in those prohibited “final results.”
His letter provided four examples of what the public could be told: that UW-EC was aware of the Snapchat incident, investigated it and “followed its established policies and procedures” in doing so. Finally, he wrote that it’s okay to say the university “has taken appropriate disciplinary action based on the totality of circumstances, but is not allowed to identify any specific sanctions due to federal privacy rules.”
The CVPost respectfully disagrees
We believe Harrison’s reasoning is flawed and gives too little weight to the public’s need to know.
We examined the FERPA language as well as considerable material – from the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) – that discusses what that legalistic language actually means. This led to the conclusion that UW-EC does have an option to release information about the sanctions themselves, as long as no student identities are made public in the process.
Schmidt provided – quickly, in response to our request – an excerpt from a DoE document written to provide guidance for dealing with FERPA’s provisions. That material apparently was at least part of the basis for the university’s stance.
The key language there is: “Under FERPA, a school may not generally disclose personally identifiable information from a postsecondary student’s education records to a third party unless the student has provided written consent.” (Emphasis added)
We think that informing the public only about the terms of the disciplinary action (suspension, expulsion or whatever) is a long way from disclosing “personally identifiable information” provided no names are included.
Why it’s important
We’ve suggested in an email to Schmidt that releasing such general information would restore “transparency to the degree that FERPA permits without identifying the students involved.” That’s important for several reasons.
First, it’s evidence that shows now whether or not the university is taking this whole matter seriously or whether the discipline is merely a slap on the wrist for the five football players involved.
Second, it would quiet rumors that inevitably spring up in tense or controversial situations in the absence of facts. Experience has frequently shown that those rumors paint a far more negative picture than would result from knowing the truth.
Finally, experience has also shown that the facts will surface sooner or later despite efforts to the contrary. By then, though, the rumors and the public uncertainty about how UW-EC has dealt with campus racism could well have taken a toll in regard to enrollment, financial support and general reputation.
Moving forward
The university’s formation of a task force to recommend immediate steps to improve equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the university community is a very good move. So is the upcoming independent review of UW-EC’s intercollegiate athletics department and its programs.
(Click here to see the university’s entire announcement of both actions , including the task force membership.)
But we’re unlikely to learn of any specific recommendations or actions resulting from either of those efforts until at least the end of January. In the meantime, we need to know just how seriously UW-EC has taken those racist Snapchat messages.
Even Harrison, the UW-System lawyer, acknowledged in his letter to Schmidt that “this matter has been of significant public concern.” We urge Schmidt and the UW-EC administration to think outside the legal box and read the FERPA language for what it seems to say in laymen’s terms rather than accepting an overly-cautious legalistic approach.
In other words, put into play the critical thinking skills UW-Eau Claire tries to instill in its students.
— David Gordon
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Lisa Quinn says
David Gordon – Do not use gendered language like “laymen’s”