VSA Council fines and censures Vassar Ultimate Frisbee

At their Council meeting on Sunday, Nov. 1, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council fined the Ultimate Frisbee team $3,000 for an infraction that occurred before October Break. The fine is in part an expression of the Council's frustration at the recurrence of the team's violations of VSA bylaws and College Regulations.

VSA Vice President for Activities Aaron Grober '11 moved to fine the team. Despite its aggravation over Frisbee's repeated offenses—which span across a number of years—the VSA Council, as dictated by its bylaws, is prevented from punishing an organization for infractions from previous academic years due to an assumed turnover in leadership. Grober, in conjunction with the Activities Committee, suggested this fine as a result of an Oct. 9 incident in which 20 members of the ultimate frisbee team were written up for having open containers of alcohol out during a practice. A coach, who was showing a prospective student-athlete around campus, saw the students and alerted Security to the team's actions.

The fine will be deducted from the team's 2009-2010 budget. According to Grober, the application for supplemental budgeting submitted by the frisbee team earlier in the semester stated that the $3,000 was needed to fund the team's annual Spring Break trip to Savannah, Ga. where they participate in the Jekyll Island Tournament.

"We allocated them the $3,000 based on them demonstrating a
responsible model of behavior," said Grober of the original allocation made earlier this semester. "So if we move forward with this fine, Frisbee will need to work harder for fundraising, but it will not cut into their operating budget."

There was some confusion during the meeting as to whether the fine would prevent the team from doing more than just attending the spring tournament. The captains of the team, Nate Mandel '10, Marco Brydolf-Horwitz '10, Marika Faytell '10 and Jennie Harkness '10, attended the meeting, and asserted that without the $3,000 dollars, the team would not be able to afford to attend local events or sponsor tournaments and other activities at home. This caused some council members to suggest that the VSA should not fine the team so much for fear that it would impede the mission of the organization.

Grober and others argued that, although it will take funds away from the team, it forces the team to fundraise and work harder.
Members of the Executive Board, including VSA President Caitlin Ly '10, questioned the credibility of the team members when they promised that no more such infractions would occur. Ly pointed out that even though similar promises have been made in the past by previous leaders of the frisbee team, there have continually been problems with the team regarding disciplinary action and inappropriate behavior. After the team's trip to Savannah last spring, which resulted in a complaint from the neighbor's of the team's residence there, last year's Council censured the team without imposing a fine.

Members of the Council and the Executive Board pointed out that this kind of behavior, on and off campus, negatively affects the reputation of the school. Though the ultimate frisbee team is not a varsity team, it is a VSA certified group. President of the Class of 2010 Selina Strasburger '10 pointed out that if any other VSA group had committed the same infractions, they would probably have already been decertified, but the team's large presence and popularity on campus made that course of action unpalatable.

"We're a very public group," said Mandel. "Our intent is not to step on anyone's experience at Vassar. We provide a lot more good to campus than bad."

Despite the team's popularity, Ly warned the team, "I do recognize it's a big part of campus. That said, I can't have the frisbee team being a liability year after year after year."

The decision to fine the team came after careful consideration of a number of possible punishments that the VSA could have pursued, including a freeze of the organization's funds, the removal of its officers, a referral to the Judicial Panel, decertification and censure.

Many members of the Council, including Ly, voiced their concern that another censure without an additional punishment, which would only require that the team write a letter of apology to Ly as President of the VSA, would not be a harsh enough consequence. Town House President Riley Greene '10, to decrease the fine to $1,500, but her motion failed to pass by a vote of 21 to three after the Executive Board explained that the team would be allowed to apply for funds later in the semester.

Ultimately, the motion to fine the Frisbee team $3,000 passed with a vote of 23 to one and a second motion to censure the Frisbee Team passed unanimously.