Lautenberg presses colleges after Rutgers student's suicide

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Sen. Frank Lautenberg said Wednesday he would introduce legislation requiring colleges to adopt a code of conduct that prohibits bullying and harassment following the suicide of a student whose gay sexual encounter in his dorm room was broadcast online.

Lautenberg (D., N.J.) made the announcement at a town meeting on the Rutgers University campus in memory of 18-year-old freshman Tyler Clementi.

Clementi, a promising violinist, jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River on Sept. 22 after the intimate images of him with another man were webcast. His body was identified days later.

Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another Rutgers freshman, Molly Wei, both 18, have been charged with invasion of privacy, and authorities are weighing whether bias-crime charges should be added.

Clementi's death has prompted a national discussion on the plight of young gay people and bullying. The Rutgers event, organized by the university and the gay rights activist group Garden State Equality, drew about 300 students and others, including Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), Rep. Frank Pallone (D., N.J.), and actress/comedienne Judy Gold, a Rutgers grad and gay activist who won two Daytime Emmy Awards as a writer and producer for The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

"No one could have heard about this degradation he suffered without feeling pain themselves," Lautenberg said. "This is a major problem, and we're going to fix it."

Lautenberg said his bill would require colleges and universities that receive federal student aid to create policies prohibiting harassment of any student. Such policies are not currently required by federal law, he said. The bill also would provide funding for schools to establish programs to deter harassment of students.

Clementi's death was one of a string of suicides last month involving teens believed to have been victims of antigay bullying.

Earlier Wednesday, Ravi's lawyer, Steven D. Altman, issued a statement saying he was "heartened to hear" that investigators are taking their time "to learn all the facts before rushing to judgment" about whether to file bias charges against his client. Altman said he hoped the public would do the same.

"I am confident that nothing will be learned to justify, warrant, or support the filing of any bias criminal complaint," Altman said.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said earlier this week that he would not rush the investigation into Clementi's death. His spokesman said Wednesday there was nothing new to report.