Although relatively new, the Wellness Environment has made a name for itself on campus.

It’s known for its focus on health and wellbeing and its new residence hall, but also infamous for the contract its members must sign upon joining.

When a group of WE students crafted a penis from sticky notes and displayed it in a dorm window, they were told that they could be kicked out of their housing if they did not comply.

The disciplinary measures that WE takes are unclear. There is no clear, specifically outline code for enforcement.

Students are unaware of what their rights are. For many WE students, the idea that they have the right to a fair trial before being removed from housing is unusual.

Their fate is left in the hands of a few administrators who assign punishments and enforce code inconsistently.

Moreover, between the restrictions on clothing and personal items, students ability to express themselves is also curtailed.

Regardless of whether or not students choose to live in a wellness-focused environment, their rights should be protected across campus.

Students in WE may be held to a higher standard of health and safety than those in other dorms, but that should be the only distinction between them.

Disciplinary incidents this semester show WE has grown to operate by its own rules.

In WE, students were immediately punished for their sticky note construction, despite no mention of this as a violation in the WE Code.

The Wellness Environment is built on a promising premise and was created with good intentions.

It has grown, however, into a program with unclear rules and a discipline system that operates separately from the rest of the University, leading to a concerning pattern of dismissing student free speech.