The consenting relationships workgroup discussed zero tolerance policies for relationships on campus and the legality of having people on campus ending their relationships during their meeting Monday. They will be compiling information and recommending policies to faculty senate.

“Our policy, in my opinion, seems to be effective,” Johnson said. “It applies to every group on campus. The main it’s addressing is someone not abusing the power they might have over someone else. That’s really what it’s there for. It doesn’t say you can’t have a relationship with somebody.” 

The current policy on consenting relationships has been around for at least 20 years, without changes according to Kevin Johnson, chair of the workgroup and general counsel.

The group will be looking at other policies, such as the zero tolerance policy at Stanford and other regent universities, such as The University of Kansas and Kansas State.

One of the main concerns of the workgroup was the legality in telling a couple on campus they must end their relationship. 

“If a student and a faculty member genuinely begin a consenting relationship, who’s going to tell them they have to break up? And then, they get mad and they sue,” Johnson said. “What’s our defense going to be? So these are questions that have been popping up since I’ve been thinking about this.”

One of the options discussed was having those in relationship go to Human Resources and disclose their relationship. 

“A lot of corporations require that, but we’re not a corporation,” said Maire Johnson, assistant professor of social sciences.

There has already been a lot of attention to this subject.

“I feel like this is one of those topics where my bias is towards not changing it,” said Bekah Selby, assistant professor of math and economics. “I’ve had a lot of people express their opinion to me, not at me, but to me about this…”

The workgroup will report back to Faculty Senate on Sept. 20. The group will dissolve once they present their findings.