The debate over creating a civilian review board was revisited by students and administrators at a University Council meeting last night.
The call for a board to consider civilian complaints against Penn Police began last January after the alleged racial profiling against then-College senior Dimitri Dube.
Three students were then appointed to the Division of Public Safety Advisory Board, which some minority coalition leaders believed would create a civilian review board, said Shaun Gonzales, the political chairman for the United Minorities Council.
Gonzales said the coalitions were then told that creating a civilian review board "wasn't possible" because of stipulations in the labor contract between Penn and police that prevented civilians from interviewing police officers, an act necessary for potential reviews by a civilian review board.
UMC member and Advisory Board appointee Alex Breland resigned last month, because the UMC did not want to give "a false impression that the Advisory Board is a solution to the problem," Gonzales said.
UMC and Asian Pacific Student Coalition representatives brought the issue to the Council hoping it would reconsider the need for a civilian review board.
Minority coalitions were also concerned that because the advisory board met annually, there was not as much "frequent access to the complaints" as students expected, Gonzales said.
The coalitions hope to see a copy of the contract between Penn and police and hear Penn's position on the issue again. They will renew meetings with Division of Public Safety Advisory Board Chairman Dennis Culhane and Division of Public Safety Vice President Maureen Rush. The Council steering committee also plans to consider the issue.
Also at last night's meeting, Arms Divestment Campaign representatives proposed a Penn Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility to "examine the University's holdings in companies that support the illegal occupations of, and massive human right violations in, the West Bank and Gaza," the campaign's statement said.
Also during the meeting, other students complained that the University is holding back too much information regarding the racial makeup of those admitted under the early admission policy and data on financial aid packages.
University President Judith Rodin said that much of this information is already public, and that the Council's committee on admissions and financial aid is currently considering the issue.
Both proposals will be considered by the Council's steering committee.
