The Office of Judicial Affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder has completed action on the cases of nine CU-Boulder students who were involved in an off-campus party last Dec. 7 resulting in violations of the Student Code of Conduct, said Ron Stump, vice chancellor for Student Affairs.
Pending appeals in two cases, seven students have received sanctions resulting from Code of Conduct violations and two students were found not responsible for the charges against them.
The nine students charged in the matter included six men and three women. Two other individuals who also attended the party were not charged with violations because they were not students. These individuals will not enroll at the university this year.
The number and severity of sanctions by the Judicial Affairs Office varied depending on the individual student's level of involvement in the violations, Stump said. All the students found responsible for violations received multiple sanctions.
Sanctions issued in the incident included suspension, suspension in abeyance, probation, monthly drug testing for nine months, self-reporting of a student's role in the incident to Boulder Police, and mandatory monthly meetings with a Judicial Affairs officer for nine months. Some of the students also must perform community service, complete an alcohol class, complete special projects and write papers. Suspensions, which were issued to three of the students, were applied to summer or fall 2002, depending on the student's current enrollment status.
Under the terms of suspension in abeyance, a student is automatically suspended if found in violation of any of the campus' Standards of Conduct, no matter how minor, during the period of abeyance. Such a suspension would be in effect for the remainder of the period of abeyance.
"Suspension in abeyance is a severe penalty, the third most severe that Judicial Affairs issues after expulsion and suspension," said Stump. "If the students charged with suspension in abeyance make one misstep during the period of abeyance, they will be suspended immediately until the end of the period," he said.
A lack of clear, corroborated evidence in the case limited the range of sanctions applied, campus officials point out. Chancellor Richard Byyny said he was extremely disappointed that CU-Boulder students were involved in the kind of behavior reported to have occurred Dec. 7.
However, Byyny said the Judicial Affairs process, though different from the criminal justice system, also is based on the principle of due process and examination of verifiable facts in any given case. Decisions in the cases of each of the nine students charged were based on facts gathered from the police investigation and the statements of witnesses.
"Examination of the known facts and the statements of witnesses must be the basis of our decisions, regardless of whether they conform to preconceived notions people may have about what happened in any case," Byyny said.
"Our procedures and rules are the same no matter what the case and who is charged," he said. "That is the standard that we must follow in this case and in all cases involving student code violations."
Charges by the Judicial Affairs Office stemming from the party include: underage consumption of alcohol, use of marijuana, use of alcohol and marijuana in a residence hall room, providing marijuana to another person, violation of probation for alcohol and noise offenses, engaging in a drinking contest and hosting a party that threatened the health and safety of others.
Judicial Affairs procedures allow opportunities for appeals of decisions. Two of the students sanctioned in the off-campus party incident have appealed. Federal law protecting the right to privacy prohibits the university from discussing details of individual cases reviewed by the Judicial Affairs Office.
For more information on the Judicial Affairs process and Student Code of Conduct, check the Web site at: .