A petition circulating throughout campus by an independent student initiative aims to reform the way Georgetown University handles sexual assault and disciplinary policy. The petition calls for a more formal disciplinary process, one that supporters say will be more impartial.

According to Jessica Corsi (SFS ’03), co-chair of Take Back the Night, the director of student conduct is entrusted with virtually all decision making power in sexual assault cases. The petition suggests correcting this though tape-recording hearings and removing all sources of bias.

“One person making all of the decisions does not allow for a very formal process,” Corsi said. “The reform is trying to get people to take it more seriously.”

Currently, according to the Student Handbook, the Director of Student Conduct is “responsible for properly implementing fair judicial procedures and overseeing the administration of the system.”

Along with the director, the Student Affairs Disciplinary Review Committee reviews the discipline and conduct system and adjusts it when necessary.

Additionally, the petition proposes improving sexual assault training of Department of Public Safety officers and other resources including the Student Primary Care Clinic, Campus inistry and the Women’s Center.

Corsi said that if sexual assault is understood better, situations could be handled more effectively. Also, the establishment of working committee will further formalize the procedure by examining and amending the current sentencing guidelines for sexual assault.

Other points in the petition include extending the right of complainants to include appeals, retaining student misconduct records for 15 years, publishing a university statement summarizing the outcomes of all cases and assuring the complete and sustained inclusion of Sexual Assault Service’s statistics in the annual crime report.

“I want to entreat the entire student body to get behind this because the only way that the administration is going to consider change is if we approach them as a united front, a united Georgetown,” Corsi said. “Change will happen because our voices do matter.”

Circulation of the petitions began early Monday morning and approximately 150 signatures were collected during the day, Corsi said. Although they are beginning the process passively by setting up a booth in Red Square, they will soon bring the petition around to residence halls, according to Corsi.

“The response so far has been really good especially for the first day, but we hope to get as many students as possible before we will stop,” Corsi said. “This petition is completely reasonable and necessary, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get the entire student body’s signature.”