Appeals from 11 Honor Council rulings concluded

Appeals from 11 Honor Council rulings concluded
…………………………………………………………………

The President’s
Office recently concluded 11 appeals stemming from fall
semester Honor Council rulings. The Honor Council constitution
provides for appeals to assistant dean of Student Judicial
Programs and on to the president of the university.

On Jan. 22, President
Malcolm Gillis sent the following message to The Rice Thresher:

The President’s
Office announced today that a significant number of the
appeals of Honor Council decisions involving PHYS 203 from
spring 2002 have been concluded.

The President
has rendered decisions on 11 student appeals, and two appeals
remain pending.

For the appeals
already decided, the findings of “in violation”
were upheld in 10 of 11 appeals. In two appeals, the sanctions
were upheld in full. In five appeals, the cooperation of
the students was taken into account in setting the sanction.

In three other
appeals, the students contended they did not have a sufficient
opportunity to review and respond to a piece of discrete
evidence; although there was a lack of a basis to conclude
that this procedural issue materially affected the result
before the Honor Council, in the interest of fairness the
President offered these three students the option for a
reopened hearing before the Honor Council.

In one appeal,
we concluded that the evidence in the record did not support
a finding of “in violation.”

During the appeal
process, new information also came to light concerning potential
violations by other students; these have been referred to
the Honor Council for further investigation.

As is the case
with any Honor Council matter — including appeals —
no further information can be provided by anyone involved
in the process about individual cases without the written
consent of the students accused.

This year, as
in past years, the Honor Council has labored long, hard
and in good faith over the complex and challenging cases
brought before them. The appeals sent to the President’s
Office were handled according to the constitution and bylaws
of the honor system, and many hours were spent reviewing
the record and the materials submitted.

The outcomes
of the appeals are supportive of the deep and lasting values
of the honor system that all students agree to when coming
to Rice and recognize the dedication and hard work of the
Honor Council in upholding those values.