The morning I was supposed to leave for winter break, I awoke to the noise of a person slamming doors and yelling in our New Hall living room. Upon investigating, my irate roommate threw a rotten tomato at me – one that I had placed on her desk after she refused to throw it away.

After some arguing, my roommate slapped me in the face. As any other rational person would, I reacted instinctively by striking her back. Student Judicial Services didn’t see it the same way. I can tell you, after a long and often-confusing process with SJS, that GW’s twisted legal system will not budge on issues of self-defense. All students in University housing should beware of the extent of the rules that they are living under.

The irony of the situation is that I called the University Police Department to report the incident and ensure that I would be able to pack my bags without the threat of being attacked. Imagine my surprise when I learned that, even if being beaten with a baseball bat in Kogan Plaza, students are not permitted to defend themselves when physically abused. It just doesn’t seem right, does it?

Throughout the disciplinary process that then ensued, SJS administrators stressed to me that their rules and disciplinary processes are designed to be, above all else, educational. Students are supposedly held to a higher standard than that of the actual law. In my experience, however, the standard of service SJS actually provides to the students is abysmal and shows few signs of being developed with student education in mind.

Despite neither my roommate nor I wishing to press charges, SJS took this duty upon themselves as they do for any physical altercation that is reported to UPD. Because of this, I was forced to deal with staff members who treated me as if I was a criminal who didn’t deserve to be considered innocent until proven guilty – or as this mock legal system terms it, “in violation.”

An SJS official’s demeanor made it very clear in our meetings that her time could be better spent doing other things. She was incredibly surly and refused to suggest a better course of action to take if I were put in the situation again in the future. If we are held to this artificially high standard, those who administer the policy should be able to speak freely about proper and legal on-campus conduct.

Perhaps she simply didn’t know what type of actions are permitted by University policy; after experiencing some of SJS student justices’ lack of knowledge regarding the Code of Student Conduct, I would not be surprised. I had to repeatedly inform those who would decide whether I would lose housing of my rights, as they ignored them to cut down the length of my hearing. My pleas to explain my situation after being originally silenced by the students were upheld by SJS officials. To make things worse, the justices were unknowledgeable about the procedural aspects of the SJS process and confused the names of my former roommate and I.

We deserve a better judicial system than the one I came face to face with – one in which justices are able to conduct hearings properly without the assistance of a backseat driver and in which the accused are shown some degree of respect by SJS administrators. If students are expected to take this organization and its policies seriously, it should operate in a manner worthy of being taken seriously.

Most importantly, no school’s code of conduct should contain rules that give students no choice but to put their personal safety at risk or else suffer major consequences for protecting themselves in a physically abusive situation. They should, at the very least, allow for punishment to be determined on a case-by-case basis when a person defends himself or herself from attack. Being charged with physical assault, even in fake court, is a serious offense and it is ignorant to assume that the victim can and should always just walk away.

I truly wish that I had walked away from my SJS encounter feeling as if what I had to say actually mattered, and that I had actually learned something in the process. But being lectured by administrators that in the real world you can’t defend yourself from a physical attack is not only false and patronizing, but also by no means educational.

Ultimately it seems as if the University’s liability, not students’ well being is on the line. After nearly four years at GW, I am not surprised. SJS should admit to this philosophy, however, rather than pretending to care about educating students about the real world.

-The writer is a senior majoring in sport and event management.