Silva: Please heed the new open records policy

By Jazz Silva     9/9/15 3:20pm

The choices we make here at Rice will have a direct effect on life after we graduate. Usually this is a positive and beneficial truth. The relationships built at Rice will outlast the four years we spend as an undergraduate. Our academic and extracurricular achievements will push us forward in our careers. Now, for some of us, even our mistakes will impact life after graduation. As of Sept. 1, police records of private institutions were made open to the public. In light of this, it’s time to have a more serious conversation about personal responsibility.

Here at Rice, we are trusted to make our own decisions. We are given the freedom to choose what type of person we want to be. Sometimes we make mistakes, but as a community we know these mistakes do not define us. In the past it could be argued that once you leave Rice, you get a clean slate. However, in the future, if you have a police record and an employer or some other source sees it, they may not react with the same understanding.

 In the grand scheme of things, students don’t antagonize officers or intentionally create situations where a police report will be made. However, some situations have escalated, usually due to intoxication. Although the following is common sense, I will repeat it: Do not under any circumstances run from RUPD. If anything, this new policy is an even better reason to cooperate with campus police. 

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I cannot stress enough how much students need to understand all details and implications of this new policy, especially in the case of sexual assault. The complainant’s name will not be released in cases of sexual assault. This policy should not deter women or men from reporting cases of sexual assault. Reporting sexual assault is always a very difficult decision to make, but this policy is not a reason to choose not to. 

 Finally, I want students to know that I am not writing this op-ed to be patronizing. No student on this campus is the parent of another. Everyone has the freedom to make his or her own mistakes, and I have never been the righteous beacon of virtue. My job is to care for and advocate for students, but students also need to advocate and care for themselves.

 I am fully aware of Rice’s social culture because I have been an undergraduate for four years. I don’t believe that students are expected to suddenly avoid every single situation in which there is the slightest possibility of breaking a rule. When talking about college campuses, it is almost impossible to do so. But be reminded that when we make adult decisions, we must be prepared to deal with adult consequences.

Jazz Silva is a Sid Richardson College senior and the Student Association president.

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