Whatever else you may want to say about Justin Holmes, he is a student who is being persecuted by the SUNY administration. Did I really mean persecuted? They sent the police to his office in the middle of the night to arrest him even though he had not done anything wrong. I think that qualifies.
 

Justin Holmes works long hours and on Tuesday, May 9th, was up very late working on the SA Budget. He was so tired he laid himself down to sleep on a sleeping bag on the floor of his office. The police walked right into his unlocked office in the middle of the night with flashlights. They poked around a bit and left, and Justin Holmes went back to sleep. Then they returned at 6:30am entering his office as he slept again, but waking him up this time by taking pictures of him with a flash, and arresting him for “possession of stolen property” because of the sleeping bag on which he lay. The officers were pleasant enough, even friendly, but they searched him, handcuffed him, took him down to the station, cuffed him to a wall, and fingerprinted him just the same.
The sleeping bag on which Justin Holmes laid his head had been in circulation among the students for more than a year. There are hundreds of sleeping bags just like it in a storage room in the SUB gathering dust. Some students had been using a few of them which they left in Justin Holmes’ office. The sleeping bags did not leave the premises. Ostensibly they had been purchased for the use of the students so Justin Holmes was just borrowing something that was probably purchased for his and other students’ use.
The university is supposed to serve the students, helping them to learn and grow as good citizens of the world. This is a service for which the students pay. Likewise the police are supposed to be there to “serve and protect” the students. You tell me how the administration is serving Justin Holmes, or any other student when they send the police to arrest him for working late and using a sleeping bag! You tell me how the police who are supposed to be there to “serve and protect” are serving and protecting Justin Holmes, or any other student, when they arrest him for using a sleeping bag!

Now this past Tuesday May 16th they have served him with two more judicial notices for the use of the same sleeping bag, one for using “supplies of the College without proper authorization” and the other for “knowingly possess(ing) property other than your own with intent to benefit yourself.”

It is obvious that the administration is using reprehensible tactics to harass and intimidate Justin Holmes, to try to keep him from the position of SA president to which he was duly elected. Justin is a caring and engaged student who believes that justice is worth fighting for and SUNY should be proud to have him on board. He is advocating the repeal of a policy that expels students for smoking pot and pushing for a more conscientious food service for the students among other things. These are changes the students want but the administration opposes. Good governance is not about accepting the status quo, or throwing up your hands and saying “it’s the law.” Good governance is about advocating for the changes you want to see, not hindering those you disagree with by the misuse of judicial tactics.

Justin Holmes is most visible on campus as an advocate of the reform of marijuana laws. In the case of marijuana, we must not forget that it is a moral issue. Some laws are immoral. Laws that expel pot smokers from school and put pot smokers in jail are immoral. The law is supposed to protect the people from harming each other. Smoking pot does not harm anyone. A smoker of pot harms themselves far less that a smoker of cigarettes or a drinker of beer. The people who co-operate with those laws and sanction them with their silence, they are the ones who are causing harm by kicking innocent people out of school and putting innocent people in jail. It’s like having a war over which brand of medicine or recreation a person chooses. The situation is preposterous.

The administration decides whether or not enforce laws about pot and by their own admission there were 52 arrests in 2005, compared with 12 in 2004.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/05/10/news-jhantimilitia-05-10.html

If the administration is worried that relaxed enforcement of drug laws will result in lower admittance, they should think again. On accepted students day Justin Holmes and several other students handed out a flyer to each student telling them that New Paltz was known as a safe and friendly intellectual pot smoking community. Student Accounts collected a record number of deposits, claiming “we must be good looking and charming if we can continue to pull this off, given the highly competitive nature of our accepted students.”
http://www.wikipaltz.com/wiki/Accepted_Students_Day_is_a_Success
http://www.wikipaltz.com/wiki/04/01/2006_WikiPaltzers_and_drug_enthusiasts_show_strong_presence_on_Accepted_Students_Day


One of Justin's more provocative and controversial proposals was for an armed student militia. As he said himself in the New Paltz Times, the idea of the militia is less about guns and more about student organizing and debate about who has the right to bear arms. This was a harmless, yet compelling topic that caused some stir. Justin also stated to the New Paltz Times that he had no intention of breaking any existing laws regulating the use of firearms. He was more interested in arming students with video cameras so that they would have proof of harassment, if, as in his recent situation, harassment was indeed carried out by either the administration or their armed enforcers. Nobody wants students walking around with guns. The purpose of a gun is to kill someone who also has a gun. Most of the students aren’t afraid that the campus police will kill them, but there is still no need for the campus police to have guns since the students don’t. Besides, the Campus police should know that the Town is ready with six AR-15s if they ever need fire power.

Let’s be clear that Justin is not solely responsible for the brouhaha over the “student militia” which exists only as a second amendment “pipe dream” conjured up, ironically, by his political rival Brian Gold. This is the same student someone in the administration told several coaches and fraternity leaders to tell their students to vote for instead of Justin Holmes. It was not Justin Holmes’ fault that the Oracle did a front page splash on the idea replete with pictures of pistols. Media attention is swift and capricious. Sure, he went on Fox News and sounded silly, but that’s not a crime either. He scared some people and has apologized. He wanted attention on the real issue of power and unjust laws, but of course the majority of the media isn’t interested in that. The media (especially Fox News) is interested in sensational coverage that sells advertisements and papers rather than the exchange of real information, facts and provocative debate that should govern and lead our "free" press. I think we would all hope that College is a safe and nurturing environment where students have the right and opportunity to raise issues both conventional, controversial and compelling so that they can one day help to affect change in our society, by learning how to effect change on the very campus they pay hefty tuition to attend, live and learn.

Engaged, controversial student leadership creates a more vigorous, challenging academic and political atmosphere in an institution of higher education. That's what we want. Not apathy. We want new ideas, challenges, thought-provoking ideas. Yet this current administration is in a full-blown campaign to squelch the very notion of freedom of expression and student activism. That is what is so disturbing.

If we want our students to be compassionate responsible people then we need to set a good example by being that way ourselves. If we use unfair influence on student elections, and expel them for getting caught smoking pot, or arrest them in the middle of the night for nothing, they are less likely to become good citizens and even great leaders than if they stay in school and continue to have the moral guidance and intellectual stimulation of the university.

The administration is probably taking these actions against Justin Holmes because they plan to expel him. What are we going to do about it? Are we going to just stand by sheepishly, afraid that they'll come after us next for speaking out in support of Justin Holmes and the future Justin Holmes that challenge the status quo? I for one will not stand by while the administration crushes student leadership. I hope you won't either. Silence is the antithesis of courage in the face of administration abuse, whether on the SUNY New Paltz Campus or when faced with the current rash of criminal actions of our Federal Government.

If the administration is worried about the reputation of the school then they should consider how awful their treatment of Justin Holmes makes them look. Would you send your kids to a college where they could get expelled for using a sleeping bag?

We need to be vigilant to protect academic freedom and to protect student leadership from persecution by the administration. Please send your letter of support for Justin Holmes , or your professions of profound disgust over this situation to President Steve Poskanzer at poskanzer@newpaltz.edu, the www.newpaltznation.com letter section, and your local papers.

SAVE JUSTIN HOLMES FROM ADMINISTRATION PERSECUTION AND EXPULSION.

Rachel Lagodka

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