John Canzano – Oregonian – Oregon State will announce later today a strong new policy aimed at transfer students with troubling conduct issues, The Oregonian has learned.
The expected change to OSU’s admissions policy would apply to all undergraduate and graduate students seeking to transfer to the university. The policy would also apply to student athletes.
The policy requires that those seeking to transfer to OSU must disclose whether they are ineligible to re-enroll at an institution they attended in the past seven years due to student conduct reasons. If a student transfer is ineligible to re-enroll at another institution because of student conduct violations, they automatically will be declined admission to OSU.
“We are committed to combatting sexual violence in society and to improving safety on the Oregon State University campus,” said OSU President Ed Ray. “This is an important step to strengthen the university’s admissions policies for transfer students related to conduct that is not consistent with creating a safe and inclusive community at Oregon State.”
Dr. Ray is also lobbying Pac 12 Commissioner Larry Scott requesting that Oregon State’s policy or a similar policy be brought up for discussion and consideration at the next conference meeting in March. He also will be the sharing Oregon State’s new policy with the presidents of each Pac 12 institution.
The shift is in response to lobbying conference-wide by Brenda Tracy, the survivor of a gang rape in Corvallis in 1998. Tracy contacted the presidents of the 12 conference members earlier this year, calling upon them to ban transfers with sex-assault incidents.
“We need to stop transferring around student-athletes with serious criminal issues,” Tracy said in September. “Athleticism shouldn’t trump safety. If you’re recruiting an athlete, why aren’t you looking at criminal history?”
Dr. Ray contacted Brenda Tracy early Monday morning to call her “an inspiration” and to thank her for championing the effort.
The OSU policy is framed as “a meaningful addition to the many efforts that Oregon State has undertaken to address sexual violence and increase campus safety.”
