The nearly 31,000 people who applied to the University of Washington (UW) for the upcoming academic year were required to divulge some of their personal information, including social security number, annual income and citizenship and residency status.
But aspiring Huskies who plan to fill out undergraduate applications for 2014-2015 may have to reveal one more personal detail: whether or not they have a criminal background.
Norm Arkans, university spokesman, said UW officials are considering whether the university will require applicants to disclose any criminal history. “There are some people who think it’s a terrific idea,” Arkans said, “and others who are concerned.”
A question requiring students to share their criminal pasts would be a first for UW applicants. Arkans said the university has yet to decide whether to include such a query on future applications.
The UW Daily first reported Feb. 7 that the state university was considering the addition of a criminal background question.
The prospect of asking applicants about criminal offenses arose last spring, Arkans said, after students learned that two level-three sex offenders were enrolled for the 2012 winter quarter. Both students had been enrolled previously, he said, then they dropped out, committed their crimes and completed prison sentences. They then re-enrolled at the university, he said.
The state Department of Corrections lists level-three sex offenders as having a high likelihood of reoffending. Neither of the students has been involved in an incident on campus since re-enrolling. The university is required by law to inform students and parents of any enrolled level-three sex offenders, Arkans said.
Arkans said senior administration is still grappling with how to phrase a potential question, but it might opt to zero in on an applicant’s serious criminal history, such as one involving violence or use of firearms.
“Not all questions are equal,” he said.
‘Troubling’ way to ensure public safety? Vanessa Hernandez, staff attorney with the Washington branch of the ACLU, said requiring applicants to divulge a criminal past could be a “troubling” step.
She said low-income people and people of color are disproportionately burdened by arrest records. Bringing up an applicant’s record would place those groups at a disadvantage.
“A criminal history by itself should not deny the person an education,” Hernandez said.
The UW Daily reported last month that applications from black students rose almost 8 percent and applications from Latino-American students jumped by 20 percent.
Hernandez said she understands that students and administrators have concerns about public safety, but criminal background questions won’t address those concerns. A stronger focus on police training, as well as student safety education, would help people at UW feel safer, she said.
“Excluding [applicants] from the front is a crude way to ensure public safety,” Hernandez said.
When it comes to attitudes on the UW campus, Evan Smith, president of the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW), said students seem to favor a question that focuses on violent crimes, he said.
Given that students only learned of the enrolled sex offenders shortly before classes began, Smith said some students feel it would be good to know an applicant’s history sooner rather than later.
But, he added, “Just because you have a previous charge, it [shouldn’t] automatically deny you,” he said.
He said the ASUW plans to raise the issue at an upcoming meeting to give more students a chance to voice their feelings. Smith said the undergraduate student government hopes to formulate an opinion and offer it to Provost Ana Mari Cauce by mid- to late March.
“If we do ask a question,” he said, “we want to make sure it’s in the best interest of the applicant and the campus.”
Accepted or denied If UW decides to ask prospective students about past crimes, it won’t be alone. Hundreds of colleges and universities, both in the state and nationwide, already require undergraduate applicants to disclose criminal histories.
State-funded Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham asks wannabe WWU Vikings a three-part question: “Have you ever been convicted of a violent, weapons-related, or drug-related offense; required to register as a sex offender by any legal authority within the U.S.; or are there any felony charges pending against you at this time?”
If applicants reply yes, they must provide the WWU Admissions Office with a letter of explanation. If an event occurs that renders the applicant’s reply inaccurate or incomplete, admissions officials must be updated.
Then there’s the Common Application, a standardized form accepted by nearly 500 colleges and universities in the United States and abroad, including Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University and University of Puget Sound.
The Common App, as it’s called, asks students if they’ve ever been found guilty or convicted of a misdemeanor, felony or other crime. Applicants are not required to answer yes or explain the incident if the conviction has been “expunged, sealed, annulled, pardoned, destroyed, erased, impounded, or otherwise ordered by a court to be kept confidential.”
Arkans said that while the current group of UW applicants didn’t confront such questions, he imagines that if they had, most would have replied no. The university has no data about students’ criminal histories, he said.
In weighing a potential criminal history question on future UW applications, Arkans said the university is also seeking input from teaching staff and the admissions office. While the university hopes to reach consensus, he said the provost will make the ultimate decision.
Her answer should come in the next few months, before applications for the 2014-15 academic year are made available.
From then on, Arkans said UW’s position will be clear: “It will either be on the application or not on the application.”