Student Assembly has asked a working group that reviewed the College's Committee on Standards' policies regarding sexual assault this Spring to reconsider several of its recommendations, the Assembly announced on July 3. The Assembly will conduct its own review of COS policy in cases of sexual assault this Fall as part of a broader review of the issue at the College, and may recommend that COS form a separate sub-system for sexual assault cases.
Student Body President Molly Bode '09 said in an interview with The Dartmouth on Thursday that the Assembly's committee would address the College's judicial approach to sexual assault along with the social perception of assault on campus. The Assembly has not yet taken a formal stance on whether sexual assault cases should be subject to a judicial process separate from that used for other infractions. That option, however, warrants further consideration, Bode said.
"We don't know if a separate system would be better, but we want to make sure the victims do have support on campus and that the COS system is accessible to those who have felt like they've been a victim of sexual assault before," Bode said.
The Assembly's plans to review COS policy follow the May announcement of the results of a review of COS conducted by the Committee on Standards Review Committee, a nine-member task force composed of students, faculty and administrators.
The recommendations of the review committee differ, in part, from the findings of an Assembly task force that were announced in Fall 2006.
Both senior associate Dean of the College Kate Burke and director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs April Thompson defended the Spring review committee's report in an Assembly-run public forum in May.
In its response to the committee's report, the Assembly asks the administration to reconsider changing the COS' required standard of proof from a "preponderance of evidence" to "clear and convincing evidence." In addition, the Assembly requests that COS change its policies to allow for the disclosure of demographic information about students who come before the COS.
Thompson contended, in the May forum, that releasing the demographic information would represent a violation of the students' privacy.
The Assembly argues that releasing demographic information every five or 10 years would maintain the privacy of students brought before COS, while at the same time preventing racial discrimination.
"Such a report would...assure the Dartmouth community that no racial group disproportionately appears before the Committee on Standards," the Assembly's response states.
Burke defended the review committee's recommendation that the standard of evidence remain at a "preponderance of evidence" at the May forum, noting that Dartmouth is different than other institutions which maintain a larger police force.
"We really don't think this community would be interested in having a more intrusive information gathering process," she said at the forum.
Despite its criticisms, the Assembly's letter expressed support for the majority of the review committee's findings, which agree with four of the Assembly's recommendations from the 2006 task force.
"The recommendations provide many concrete steps towards improving Dartmouth's undergraduate judicial system," the Assembly's response states.
Although the Assembly's 2006 report advocated allowing accused students to directly question their accusers -- a recommendation with which the 2007 review committee disagreed -- the Assembly has since changed its stance to align with the 2008 findings.
"I had already changed my mind about it for certain cases, but after hearing what types of questions were asked, I realized that directly asking questions was more like a banter instead of actually useful," Bode told The Dartmouth.
Michael Herman '07, one of the students on the 2006 task force, said he feels the 2008 review committee ignored all eight of the former task force's recommendations.
"I think moving forward it would be disingenuous of the administration to cite this report as taking into account student interests, because they did not," he said.
The influence of the Assembly is limited, Herman said, adding he believes the College is reluctant to make bold changes.
"It's unfortunate, but there's not much you can do right now," he said.
In an interview with The Dartmouth on Thursday, Thompson said she was pleased the Assembly took the initiative to craft a response to the review committee's report.
She said the Assembly's response will likely play a role in Dean of the College Tom Crady's decisions on any future adjustment to the COS.
"I'm sure Dean Crady will take into account their feedback along with all the other feedback he's been receiving," she said.
