NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022
Volume 159 No. 23 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
SEX MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION
Students decry Title IX Office Advocacy group makes its voice heard while DOJ visits campus By Bryanna Bartlett PRODUCTION EDITOR
Chants including “No justice, no peace. No complicit employees,” could be heard Wednesday in front of Tower Hall. Inside, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been holding listening sessions for the community regarding their experiences with San Jose State’s Title IX Office. “The Department of Justice is holding office hours here in Room 110 to hear from the campus community about concerns regarding sexual discrimination and the university’s efforts to respond to sexual assault in its Title IX Office,” said Alexandra Ferry, social work sophomore and Students Against Sexual Assault co-founder. “We want to encourage students and faculty to attend these office hours because it’s an opportunity for your voice to be heard.” Students Against Sexual Assault, which put on the news conference, is a student organization that advocates for the BRYANNA BARTLETT | SPARTAN DAILY
TITLE IX | Page 4
Students Against Sexual Assault calls out the SJSU Title IX Office and its staff efforts in front of Tower Hall Wednesday.
Turning Point USA affiliates ignite debates on campus By Alessio Cavalca STAFF WRITER
Sikhism is a religion from the Punjab region in India, according to the Britannica encyclopedia. Sukhdev Singh Bainiwal, member of the Sikh Gurdwara Management committee, organized the event and said he was deeply saddened and disturbed by the kidnapping and killing of the family.
The unofficial San Jose State chapter of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit conservative organization, sparked discussions about free speech with passers-by Wednesday in front of the Chavez Fountain. Turning Point USA is focused on educating and training students to promote freedom, according to its website. Although members said the event had been “canceled” by San Jose State because of a university policy violation, the organization was on campus for more than four hours. Turning Point USA was planning to utilize campus facilities under another student organization reservation through College Republicans, which is not permitted, according to an email statement from the SJSU Student Involvement Office. College Republicans is not a student chapter of Turning Point USA, so when it booked the space for Turning Point USA’s use, the organization violated Student Union guidelines, according to the SJSU Student Involvement Office email statement. Morgonn McMichael, Turning Point USA contributor, was on campus to interview SJSU students about freedom of speech and to provide copies of the U.S. constitution and voting registration forms. McMichael said she felt fortunate to speak to SJSU students. “The university did not want our organization to have a presence here on campus,” McMichael said.
VIGIL | Page 2
POLITICS | Page 2
ALEXIA FREDERICKSON | SPARTAN DAILY
Some attendees hold up signs that pay tribute to the Dheri family, who were kidnapped and killed on Oct. 5, during a candlelight vigil of about 60 community members at the San Jose Sikh Gurdwara on Wednesday.
Sikh community members gather in mourning in SJ By Alexia Frederickson
were kidnapped and killed in Merced on Oct. 5. The Sikh family members ran their Prayer chants could be heard at the own trucking business and were San Jose Sikh Gurdwara as at least kidnapped at their place of work, 60 San Jose community members according to an Oct. 7 CNN article. gathered for a candlelight vigil for Gurdwaras, which are Sikh places of 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri; her mother worship, have been holding vigils around Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, the Bay Area in respect for the family 36; and uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, who throughout this week. STAFF WRITER