Case Study: Bonkers for Banners
Note: Names have been changed to protect the identities of the participants.
THE INCIDENT
Bobby and Travis, students at LMU, were at a party off campus where they met two students from a different university, Sam and Mike. Sam and Mike were interested in seeing LMU, so Bobby and Travis brought them to campus around 2am. Sam and Mike walked toward the gym near the back entrance to campus and saw LMU Athletics banners they wanted to take as souvenirs. Bobby and Travis proceeded with starting to help Sam and Mike remove the banners from the railings when Campus Safety Service officers arrived, including Lt. Nelson. Bobby and Travis ran off campus while Sam and Mike ran to a nearby parking lot and put one of the banners in Bobby’s car before running off campus. Campus Safety Services recovered the banner from Bobby’s car along with his wallet.
About 30 minutes later, Bobby and Travis returned to campus to retrieve Bobby’s car and were stopped by Campus Safety Services. The incident was forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct & Community Responsibility (OSCCR), at which point it was determined the case was eligible for a Restorative Justice Conference.
THE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CONFERENCE
A Restorative Justice Conference is convened by a multi-partial facilitator where everyone involved in the incident is given the opportunity to be heard. The process gives everyone involved a chance to have a face-to-face conversation to determine what needs to be done to help resolve the matter and make sure it doesn’t happen again. The purpose of the conference is to hear:
- What Happened
- How Everyone Has Been Affected
- What Can Be Done to Repair the Harm
A representative from the Athletics Department, Lt. Nelson from Campus Safety Services, Bobby, and Travis agreed to participate in the Restorative Justice Conference. As the story unfolded, the parties learned a number of facts including:
- Bobby and Travis took responsibility for bringing guests to campus and touching the LMU Athletic banners
- Bobby and Travis acknowledged the affect this incident had on Public Safety’s time and the Athletics Department for what they are trying to do with marketing games to students
- The Athletics Department shared that the banners were part of efforts to market athletic events to students and the greater community and that they were expensive and difficult to replace or fix if damaged due to recent supply chain issues
- Nelson shared he and his staff could have been doing something better with their time and that Bobby and Travis could have been too
- Bobby felt bad that the relationship with Athletics could have been tarnished
- Bobby and Travis apologized for their behavior
THE OUTCOME
To repair the harm, Bobby and Travis committed to working with the Marketing staff in Athletics to participate in an activity regarding marketing the final basketball game of the season.