A group of students, spurred by concerns about recent rulings of the Committee on Standards, has started to examine the committee's handling of sexual abuse cases.
After reading COS's annual report, which the College released this term, Anat Levtov '98 discussed the rulings on sexual abuse cases with Susan Marine, the coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program, and other concerned students.
Concern "started the minute we read [the report]," she said. "The report didn't elaborate on the circumstances behind each case."
Levtov said about 20 students have contacted her expressing their concern about the COS's handling of sexual abuse cases.
She said she feels the report gives the impression that the COS considers sexual abuse to be a less grave violation of the College's principles than cheating.
Two cases of cheating during the past year resulted in two students' separation from the College, while a student charged with sexual assault received a three term suspension, according to the report.
Levtov said although she now knows the circumstances behind the particular sexual abuse case, the report did not sufficiently explain the case to the general public.
She said because she feels the wording of the summary is problematic, the group wants to evaluate out the whole process to make sure it is as fair as possible to the student body.
"Most people did not ask about it and got really angry," she said. "At the very least, there should be some explanation of why the report was written and phrased as it was."
Although Levtov has yet to meet with the other concerned students, she said they plan to examine the report and possibly the entire COS process.
"There have been lots of attempts to revise the COS process, and this is just another stage of that," she said. "It's a recurring issue."
Levtov said she hopes to determine how the COS can best use the annual report to communicate with students.
"My personal goal is to make COS as fair as possible," Levtov said.
"Any recommendations we make will be a product of research, discussions and meetings with people. There is also a Student Assembly committee working on it," she said.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton said the Committee on Standards deals with each violation on a case by case basis and has no set sanctions for each type of infraction. He said the COS has decided against creating set standards of punishment for particular cases.
"Each event that comes before the COS is different," Pelton said. "Decisions are made based on the circumstances, on what happened and on precedence."
Pelton also explained the circumstances behind the case in the annual report in which the student received a three-term suspension for sexual assault.
"A few students have expressed concern about a particular case. First of all, the circumstances surrounding that case were complicated ... those complications cannot adequately be addressed in that summary statement on the annual report," he said. "The COS reached a judgment in range of how they normally respond."
Pelton said, "If you look closely at the case, what you will see is that the date of the hearing was three days before Commencement."
The accused student was a senior who had completed all requirements to graduate, Pelton said.
Therefore, the COS was not deciding how long to suspend the student for, but how long to withhold his diploma, he said.
Pelton said since the student was graduating, there was not an issue of safety for other students and a three term suspension was deemed adequate.
Jon Heavey '97, the President of the Student Assembly, said the Assembly's standing committee on administrative and faculty relations is reviewing the COS process.
"We want to make sure that students' voices are heard on the COS," he said. "It's an open forum for students' problems with COS."
