exactly what I was thinking
The college website may have process outlined, search âcode of conductâ and the reslife rules.
Some colleges, one can be kicked out of dorm or even suspended.
No one said anything about representation at the hearing. I said they ought to get legal advice.
Iâve worked with hundreds of students who have gone through disciplinary hearings. You make admissions at your own peril. And marijuana is not legal federally.
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A lot of public schools allow advisors (including attorneys) at disciplinary/conduct hearings. Maybe thereâs a difference between public and private colleges.
Hi all,
We donât have the money to hire an attorney, but we did get a free 30-minute consultation from one. DS goes to a college similar in ethos to Oberlin, but the attorney mentioned that if he is found guilty, he could face academic probation.
This seems absurd to me â is this attorney just trying to scare us so weâd hire him?
Has your child even been accused of anything yet? If iâm understanding right, they did not find anything.
Academic probation is not as bad as being tossed out. Your son would have to have zero additional violations.
But stillâŠhave you seen the campus police report yet? If not, how useful was that lawyer visit?
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Is there a chaplainâs office on campus and is there someone (does not need to be your kidâs religious denomination) who has a reputation for advising kids on these kinds of issues?
Chaplainâs canât help if itâs purely academic-- cheating, selling term papers. But for âbehavioral stuffâ and dorm stuff, there is likely a chaplain who has experience with the exact issue your kid is facing. Not a lawyer, but a vetted âgrownupâ on campus who understands the Uâs disciplinary philosophy and how it works.
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Not at all.
If the campus security report indicates there are witnesses, what did they say happened?
Hopefully just education and counseling are the sanctions.
If Oberlin (or schools of that sort) are severely punishing kids for their first offenses smoking weed they will quickly run out of students.
I fully understand your concern but I suspect this will not add up to much. The people sitting in judgement will be able to contextualize your sonâs actions if itâs as you describe and he is forthright. Once again I am not a lawyer but in this sort of situation showing contrition and maturity seems like a viable approach.
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He would have to report being put on academic probation on any graduate school applications in the future
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Does the student or you know the specific rule(s) that the student is being accused of violating, and what possible punishment is specified in the school policies?
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Does the student or you know the specific rule(s) that the student is being accused of violating, and what possible punishment is specified in the school policies?
DS showed me a screenshot of the letter he got from the housing office. Hereâs what it says:
Specifically, you are alleged to have violated the following policies: 1. Drugs - Use
Use of illegal drugs or controlled substances is prohibited. 2. Drugs - Producing similar odor anything producing similar odor to illegal drugs or controlled substances is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, odors that smell like marijuana.
During the hearing, we will discuss your role and responsibility to the
community in general and in this incident specifically. Should you choose not to appear for this conversation, I will have to make a decision based upon the information available to me at that time.
That is tricky- producing a smell similar to marijuana is covered. I would guess that a committee would take the RAâs word and then maybe the word of the campus police that searched his room later what the smell was- and its kind of his word against theirs. He might just have to admit to creating the smell- perhaps because they were smoking marijuana before entering the dorm and the smell wafted the down the hall as someone upthread suggested. But the smell alone is a violation and the statement of the RA is evidence that a committee would likely find compelling. Owning it and taking responsibility may be the only way- no need to admit more than what is obvious- that there was a smell and that it did come from him.
it also says its a conversation- not that it is hearing with any other penalties from the excerpt you included- but it also says the person will make a âdecisionâ which indicates some sort of adjudication. By using the word âconversationâ they are definitely trying to make it sound more informal which is promising. I assume he is planning on showing up to the hearing but he really, really needs to show up, skipping it would be really bad.
I agree, it sounds like one person is going to be doing the âhearing.â
âShould you choose not to appear for this conversation, I will have to make a decision based upon the information available to me at that time.â
Some colleges have available records of disciplinary hearings and consequences (redacted), I would try to find out if his does and try to get a read on how these cases are handled.
I agree with admit to nothing. My response to any question would be, âI did not smoke marijuana.â
I donât know much about drug testing but if he was smoking, wouldnât it show up in his hair/testing for 30 days? Perhaps he should get a test.
I imagine the worst case is that they find he has violated their code of conduct/honor code and expel him. I would reconsider if you can afford an attorney if the alternative could be him not graduating.
Good luck!
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Youâre getting a range of advice here, everything from âgo on in and be honestâ to âlawyer up now.â My $0.02 (with some limited experience in similar situations) is that the best way to figure out the right plan is to understand 1) who youâre dealing with and 2) the range of penalties available to them (admonishment? âprobationâ? housing removal? school removal?). These are reasonable questions for your DS to ask and/or determine before the hearing and without admitting any responsibility or creating any conflict.
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Yes, which is why I suggested reaching out to a trusted authority figure on campus (i.e. Chaplain) with experience navigating these hearings/consequences to get some advice and context ahead of time.
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Dies the college have a Facebook parent page? Itâs a good place to find out consequences for different infractions and what you should do (there are some infractions that can need a lawyer, depending on the school, Iâve read some things at one of my kidsâ schools thatâs a distance away that I wouldnât have known).
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You canât smoke in a non-smoking dorm. That is the issue. Bringing guest in just makes matter worse. As someone pointed out, check the housing contract. And I am sure there are specific rules about guests too.