\Numerous ASUO members violated Oregon Administrative Rules and the Student Conduct Code when they drank alcohol and smoked marijuana during the 2004 fall finance retreat in Sunriver, prompting student government leaders to write letters of apology and discuss potential disciplinary actions, a panel of ASUO officials told the Emerald on Thursday.
In a letter released today to the student body, retreat attendees wrote that they "deeply apologize for the actions of a few participants" during the weekend event, which was supposed to be alcohol-free in accordance with Oregon Administrative Rules.
Thirty-nine ASUO members attended the Oct. 8-10 retreat, including representatives of the ASUO Executive, Student Senate, Programs Finance Committee, EMU Board of Directors, Athletic Department Finance Committee and ASUO Controllers Office. Senate President James George would not say which student government officials violated the laws or to which groups they belonged. He also refused to disclose the number of people involved.
"We basically found out through the chain of command that the drinking that was involved transcended multiple groups," George said.
"One thing that we wanted to stray away from was pointing fingers at any one particular person," George said. "We all took responsibility for the actions because that's what we are -- we are all leaders -- and because we were there."
George said an "informal" investigation after the retreat revealed that participants, including minors, had consumed "illegal substances." He also said the ASUO office received a faxed copy of an "immature" letter that was left in one of the five houses program participants rented from Sunset Realty of Sunriver.
ASUO Vice President Mena Ravassipour said the police were not called to the retreat. Student Judicial Affairs Coordinator Chris Loschiavo said some of the conduct currently falls under OAR Article 5, Section 571, Division 21 of the Student Conduct Code, which says campus living organizations and recognized groups are responsible for compliance with the Student Conduct Code. The code mandates that people of legal drinking age may only drink or possess alcohol in areas designated by the University president and forbids underage drinking at University activities.
The infractions occurred after all-day workshops on the new ASUO budget process, George said.
"This was ... after there were announcements that this was to be a completely dry retreat," George said, adding that event leaders used "many avenues" to convey that the retreat was to be alcohol free. "There were announcements at public meetings and at staff meetings and to each of the persons who were basically in charge of a house in Sunriver that there was to be no alcohol or drugs on this retreat."
The ASUO spent about $3,200 of incidental-fee funds on housing for the retreat.
Debra Campbell, operations managers for Sunset Realty, said she was "disappointed" that members of the University would leave inappropriate comments in a rental house guest log. "It was very disrespectful of the students to take a guest comment book and write inappropriate comments that would be read by the owner and guests who stayed on the property," she said. "It was very immature and left the impression that as representatives of the University, they would be less than desirable."
Campbell said her organization was able to remove the offending material before it was read by others and that no other damages occurred, adding that a plumber did have to be called after a retreat participant accidentally flushed his cell phone down a toilet in one of the houses. Campbell added that her company has had "good experiences" with most of the campus groups that stay in rental units.
George and Ravassipour wrote a letter to Sunset Realty after the incident apologizing for the behavior of a "few of our group members."
"The students involved will be subject to discipline under University of Oregon rules," the letter states. "We sincerely hope that the actions of a few immature students will not negatively affect your view of the University and its student leadership."
George said he and Ravassipour, who were the head members at the event, approached Loschiavo to discuss how to handle the infractions.
Loschiavo said the first step when a group is accused of a conduct violation is to have the organization govern itself so that group members have a "chance to take responsibility for what they did" and make plans to prevent a repeat occurrence.
He added that he is not treating the ASUO members differently than he would a fraternity or sorority, and that he has high expectations.
"I fully expect they will rise to the occasion," he said. "This group came to me up front, which is a really good place to start."
Retreat attendees met Wednesday night in a closed meeting in the EMU to discuss individual involvement in the violations and determine remedies, George said.
"The meeting that we had last night was a debriefing meeting as to ways we can prevent this from happening again," George said.
He added that the Emerald was ejected from the event so people could feel comfortable confessing their involvement in the illegal activities.
"We felt it was in the best interests of the group, the mood of the group, to have the press not involved so that they would feel comfortable basically taking responsibility for their actions," George said.
George said the group wants "to show students at the University of Oregon that we are the leaders that they elected or hired us to be and that this will not in any way hinder our duties and our responsibilities to protect and work for the students at the University of Oregon."
George said a public apology is the first action to result from disciplinary meetings.
"We think that the first step that we can take to work toward a remedy to the situation is a public apology to the students and to the administration, which is a separate letter that we are drafting as well," he said. "We know that this letter is not a cure-all, and we don't expect it to be. We will continue to meet with (participants from the retreat) to further discuss appropriate ways that we can remedy the situation."
ASUO President Adam Petkun, who did not attend the event, said disciplinary action may result from the violations.
"There will be a subsequent meeting next week to discuss further disciplinary action and also personnel action and (whether) conduct code actions (are) necessary," Petkun said.
ASUO Public Relations Director Nathan Strauss said the current administration can't be responsible for alcohol consumed at past retreats, but that drinking probably occurred. "If you were to ask other people, this wouldn't be the first time that alcohol has ever been at a retreat," he said. "Any University retreat at any level, it would be inaccurate to say that there's never alcohol involved." EMU Director Dusty Miller said he attended the retreat with the group and did not witness any illicit behavior. Miller said the "exceptional" retreat was one of the best he's seen in the 30 years he has worked with campus groups.
He said he commends the group for taking ownership of the conduct issues.
"I respect that and I applaud them for trying to address this amongst themselves," he said.
parkerhowell@dailyemerald.com
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