<p>Middlebury is a very wealthy liberal arts college (LAC) located in the northern part of New England, perhaps the most liberal section of the U.S., politically-speaking, but, also the least diverse section, ethnically and racially. Recruitment (and retention) of African-Americans, probably the largest racial minority in the country, after Hispanics, is often a litmus test of how serious an elite college is about making itself more accessible and diverse. Middlebury recently kicked out an African-American student under mysterious circumstances.:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=67895&page=1%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=67895&page=1</a></p>
<p>The enforced confidentiality is the reason I hope it ends up in court. Once both sides make their arguments public, either Middlebury's action will appear more reasonable, or they will be forced to retract and compensate the student. Even if the court upholds its right to suspend students on skimpy evidence, which may or may not be what occurred, its reputation will take a major hit.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The enforced confidentiality is the reason I hope it ends up in court. Once both sides make their arguments public, either Middlebury's action will appear more reasonable, or they will be forced to retract and compensate the student.
[/quote]
The problem with this sentiment is that the college's confidentiality policies may well protect the accused student from criminal and/or civil liability. Many incidents that are treated as "student infractions" within the campus enclave become <em>crimes</em> in the "real" world. "Crashing in someone else's room" becomes "trespassing" or "illegal entry," breaking a phone becomes "malicious mischief," innappropriate touching becomes "sexual assault." I say again, the idea that Middlebury would allow an African-American scholarship student to be railroaded on the eve of his graduation for racial (or any other) reason is patently absurd.</p>
<p>11 African Americans out of 544 graduating seniors? comes out to 2 percent!</p>
<p>Wow, it must really suck to be a black person there!</p>
<p>"Only one personDavid Hawkinsidentified me as the intruder into his room. However, Mr. Hawkins, who is Caucasian, originally identified three other African Americans in the [college's] face book as possibly being the intruder." "</p>
<p>Wow, thats obviously racial profiling. And thats the only evidence they have.....OK, good job middlebury</p>
<p>driver,</p>
<p>The confidentiality of the college proceeding would not prevent a crime victim from calling the police and trying to get criminal charges filed. Middlebury itself could decide not to bring a criminal complaint, but any student victims could do so. Nothing in the Middlebury proceedings trumps criminal law.</p>
<p>Similarly Hawkins could file civil charges against Middlebury whether the Middlebury process is confidential or not. One of the lawyers pointed out above that he would face a high standard for winning his case, but he could try. Even if he lost, the evidence would be public, which may be his real goal- to protect his reputation. </p>
<p>If Hawkins committed a crime, I assume he knows this, and he would know (or his lawyers would have told him) that a civil suit will bring all the evidence into public. If Middlebury let him off easy by suspending rather than prosecuting, then he should know this, and keep his mouth shut. The fact that he chose to speak up is what is troubling.</p>
<p>DiamondT,</p>
<p>The low numbers, matched with the low graduation rate raise concerns about how welcome african american students are at that campus.</p>
<p>The thing that bothers me about the lynch mob mentality some posters have displayed towards the school in this situation is the "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" dynamic which is inherent in this case. If the school concluded that the student in fact did inappropriate things, they've acted appropriately - regardless of the race of the student. But if they start to detail every aspect of the situation in public - airing every accusation, every bit of evidence, etc., they end up harming the student - perhaps out of proportion to the infraction. That's why most collegiate disciplinary proceedings are confidential. So now they either have to violate their own confidentiality rule in order to defend themselves or be branded as racist. Tough spot to be in.</p>
<p>I agree it is a tough spot to be in. </p>
<p>That's why a public proceeding would be in their best interests, if they can defend what they did.</p>
<p>Kluge:</p>
<p>It's not their own confidentiality requirements, it's Federal law that's involved. They cannot release the educational records of a student over the age of 18, with some exceptions, without the written permission of the student. See <a href="http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html</a></p>
<p>I wonder how different all of these posts would be if the color of the students involved were reversed? Middlebury would probably be covering up a KKK activity if they didn't prosecute.</p>
<p>The truth is nobody has the facts in this case and likely neither side really wants a full airing.</p>