Students do Service Hours as Punishment

Danielle Azoulay
Staff Reporter

The punishment should fit the crime.

For a several years now the school has been using community service or “service hours” as Dean Elizabeth Towle prefers to call them, as punishment for various offenses committed by students.

Dean Towle says, “We specifically stay away from the term ‘community service’ because I believe philosophically that community service is an individual choice somebody makes to contribute in someway to s group, community, or cause. So, when I’m telling you that you need to complete a certain number of hours on the campus because of your actions, I don’t feel like that is community service.”

Usually service hours are assigned when a student vandalizes campus property in someway or there offense directly affects a particular campus department. For example if a student kicks over a trash can they are assigned to work with house keeping, or if they destroy the plants they work with the grounds crew.

Typically service hours are not given to students who have been given alcohol citations, however if a student explains that paying their fine is too expensive for them they are given the option to do an equivalent number of service hours.

Sophomore Matt Mummert, who was written up last year for having his girlfriend over during the “Rouzer lockdown,” was assigned 10 service hours to be completed with the house keeping staff.

According to Mummert he went around in the morning with the custodians and helped them take out the trash, sweep, mop, and vacuum.

“I thought the punishment was a little steep,” said Mummert, “it wasn’t like we were doing anything crazy. We were just watching a movie.”

During the “Rouzer lockdown,’ which Mummert believes was a result of the excessive damage done to Rouzer by students, the residents were not allowed to have guests.

Although Mummert thought his punishment didn’t fit the crime, he does still like the idea of using service hours as punishment when appropriate.

Dean Towle says, “I hope students learn from the experience that there are people on this campus that work hard everyday? and when students make different decisions to detract from the campus it creates more work for other people.” It is also her hope that students now stop and think before they act because now there is a face on who they are hurting.