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Written by Alana Goodman
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Wednesday, 18 February 2009 03:16 |
Records indicate that the UMass Student Government Association (SGA) has used university money to help finance the legal defense of accused stabber and ex-UMass student, Jason Vassell, the Minuteman has learned.
According to management at Silver Screen Design in Greenfield, Mass., at least one university purchase order made by the SGA was used there to buy a bulk shipment of "Justice for Jason" t-shirts last semester-- the same shirts being sold by the Committee for Justice for Jason Vassell (CJJV) to raise money for Vassell's attorney fees.
The CJJV-- an organization lobbying for the immediate dismissal of Vassell's legal charges-- has no affiliation with UMass and is not a 501(c)(3) non-profit group, says school officials. This would make any donations the CJJV has received from the SGA-- t-shirt or otherwise-- highly unethical and a violation of state funding regulations.
According to school officials, university money can only be used for purchases which benefit the university as a whole. It is questionable how funding the legal defense of a controversial accused felon who doesn't attend UMass could be considered a benefit to the school.
University policy also mandates that legal representation funded by Student Activities Trust Fund (SATF) money-- which makes up the SGA's fee account-- can only assist UMass students and must be executed through the Student Legal Services Office (SLSO), led by Attorney Chuck DiMare. Vassell, who has not been a student at the university for over a year, is being represented by private defense attorneys David P. Hoose and Luke Ryan.
The "Justice for Jason" t-shirts are being sold for $10 each by the CJJV, and out of the proceeds generated, "everything goes to legal fees," said committee member Dan Keefe at a group meeting in Boston on Jan. 30. The CJJV website boasts that have already collected $6,000 and are still "working tirelessly to raise money to help Jason and his family pay for a legal struggle whose pricetag now exceeds $20,000."
It's no secret on campus that the SGA and the CJJV have been long-time bed-buddies. Last October, the Daily Collegian reported that the SGA "donate[d] printing costs" for the CJJV's fliers. In addition, the fact that the CJJV is comprised of numerous high-ranking SGA members-- including President Malcolm Chu and Student Trustee Lin McClusky-- is also worth noting.
This is not the first time that the CJJV has come under a cloud of impropriety. On top of their suspect dealings with the SGA, they have committed glaring violations of university policy by selling shirts on campus without registered vendor status. Last October, the Hampshire Daily Gazette also reported that the CJJV misrepresented themselves in order to solicit donations from a local Target retail store. In the past, the group has been criticized for presenting a skewed and incomplete account of the Vassell case on their website and at their local rallies and fund raisers.
Vassell was indicted last February for two counts of assault with a deadly weapon after stabbing John Bowes and Jonathan Bosse nine times in the lobby of his MacKimmie dormitory. The CJJV contends that Vassell-- who is African American-- was acting in self-defense after being punched by Bowes-- who is white-- and assailed with racial slurs.
They also allege that the UMass Police Department and Northampton District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel are prosecuting Vassell in a racist manner.
A motion to dismiss the case, based on these claims of racism, will be heard at Northampton District Court on Feb. 18.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 22 February 2009 01:13 |
