University overstepping?

On Friday, the mailboxes of our 8 students who were involved in the sit-in received letters informing them that they faced disciplinary probation. Fair enough. Individual meetings were arbitrarily set up for Tuesday for the students with seemingly little regard for their time schedules. If a student wished to have legal counsel present, that student had to inform the Dean at least 3 business days before the meeting (if you don't want to do the math, this means they had until Friday, when the letters were received.) On Saturday, a secondary letter arrived informing the students that Dean Couture is actually considering a year-long suspension.

The University of Montana is billed as a liberal art university. We are taught in our classes to be critical thinkers and act on what we believe to be the moral high ground. Now we are being punished, possible quite severely, for being the minority group of students who 1. care about something passionately and 2.have the motivation to do something about it. I suppose it does pay to be apathetic, 'eh?

Dean of Students Couture can be reached at 406-243-6413
If you were under the impression that universities were suppose to encourage independent thought and action, or you happen to be a little bit pissed off that year-long suspension is on the horizon, please call him today and let him know.

We are also encouraging supporters to write letters to the editor to the Missoulian, the Independent, or any other paper.
Missoulian: http://missoulian.com/opedform/
Independent: www.missoulanews.com

Peace!