From: Peter Uvin

Date: May 4, 2017

Re: Motions re. timing of degree and eligibility to participate in commencement for students, subject to Conduct
Investigation and Review process at the time of graduation

As we set out to grant degrees, I inform you that there are among this group of students a number who are currently,
pursuant to Section 4 of the Conduct Process, the subject of a Conduct Investigation and Review process related to the
blockade and other disruptions at the Athenaeum and the Kravis building on April 6, 2017. The potential sanctions under
this process include suspension or expulsion. In addition, the time periods provided for in the Conduct Investigation and
Review process mean that these cases may not be resolved until after the upcoming Commencement Ceremony on May
13, 2017.

Historically, when faced with comparable circumstances, the College has typically implemented an expedited conduct
review process so that the matter can be resolved prior to Commencement. (See, e.g., Section 2 of the Student Conduct
Process on Special Considerations at the End of the Semester and During College Breaks). However, in the interests of
overall fairness and consistency with respect to all Respondents, it is not appropriate to implement an expedited review
process in any of these cases. And hence, as said, the process may well take until after Commencement. As a result, the
College is presented with what is in fact a unique circumstance that is not expressly addressed in any of our relevant
policies and procedures and has not occurred before.

As the chief academic officer of the College, I have therefore assumed the responsibility for developing a
recommendation to the faculty, the President, and the Board of Trustees with respect to the effect of the pending
Student Conduct Process on both the effective date of these students degrees and the timing of their eligibility to
participate in Commencement. In developing this recommendation, I have sought, to the extent possible, to maintain
consistency and parallelism with other relevant College policies and procedures, and to balance these students interests
in a fair process with the Colleges interest in maintaining the integrity of its Student Conduct Process and more generally
the Colleges fundamental principles. I have considered the Colleges Statement of Academic Policy and Student Conduct
Process.

In reviewing these documents, it is clear that the College generally makes a distinction between academic standing and
academic misconduct on the one hand and disciplinary standing and nonacademic misconduct on the other. However, it
is also clear that both documents contemplate that the Student Conduct Process may have an impact on a students
academic standing or progress toward a degree.

In particular, Section VII of the Statement of Academic Policy provides in relevant part that: Academic Standing and
Disciplinary Matters Students who are not in good academic or disciplinary standing with the College at the time they
leave the College may be subject to specific requirements or conditions to return to CMC in the future. Students will be
notified of these conditions in writing as part of the departure process. Students who withdraw or request a leave of
absence while academic, disciplinary, or conduct matters are pending remain subject to those disciplinary processes, as
though they were still enrolled. Any such matters will proceed to disposition at the sole discretion of the College, and any
sanctions imposed will be effective on the schedule determined by the College.

While this section deals with students leaving or returning to the College during their studies, it seems evident that what
holds for students in their first, second, and third years holds in their final year as well. Based on the foregoing, I have
developed the following recommendation for consideration by the faculty, the President, and the Board of Trustees.
These take the form of two motions I urge the faculty to approve, for I believe them to be necessary and appropriate to
the situation:

Motion 1. The faculty hereby conditionally grants those students who are currently the subject of a Conduct
Investigation and Review process under the Student Conduct Process and who otherwise have fulfilled all the academic
requirements for graduation, the degree of Bachelor of Arts, conditional on the completion of the Student Conduct
Process, and either (i) a finding of non-responsibility or (ii) a finding of responsibility followed by the completion of any
applied sanctions.

The charges against these students are sufficiently significant for the College to have activated the procedure that carries
the highest potential sanctions, including suspension or expulsion. It is wrong to let students, over whom such significant
doubts as to their good standing exist, graduate from the College as if these concerns did not exist. In the past, the
College solved this conundrum by dramatically expediting conduct processes, and either finding responsibility (together
with a sanction, which could include suspension) or non-responsibility. Whatever the outcome, the faculty had no
difficult decision to make, as the sanction was either being implemented already (and the student was removed from
consideration for graduation) or the finding of non-responsibility was already issued (and the student deserved to
graduate). Today, and rightly so, conduct processes have become much more complicated, with many more
intermediary steps designed to protect the respondents to serious charges. The result is that we are now obliged to
directly grapple with this question: are we willing to simply graduate students against whom there was sufficient
preliminary evidence to warrant a Conduct Investigation and Review process?

We are also setting a precedent for when we face future circumstances of a serious violation of policy after the May
faculty meeting but before commencement. In such circumstances, we would treat the degree as conditional and not
allow the student to participate in commencement. The motion I submit amounts to giving these students a conditional
degree. It says that they have fulfilled the academic requirements for graduation but that unsolved major concerns
about their good standing preclude us from awarding this degree at this moment. Once the process is completed
whether by a finding of non-responsibility or by a finding of responsibility and a subsequent sanction followed by the
satisfaction or completion of that sanctionthe student will immediately and automatically be awarded the degree,
whenever that is. No new faculty vote is necessary, as the degree was already awarded conditionally.

What does adoption of this motion concretely mean for the effective date of degree?
-If the conduct matter is fully resolved, including a finding of non-responsibility or the satisfaction or completion of any
sanctions, prior to the close of regular business hours on May 12, 2017, the student shall be eligible to graduate as of
May 13, 2017.
-If the conduct matter is not fully resolved by May 12th, the students graduation date will be:
-If found not responsible, May 13, 2017.
-If found responsible, the first business day following the satisfaction or completion of the sanction.
Example 1: A student is found responsible, and the sanctions include the deferral or withholding of the
students degree until the end of the fall 2017 semester. The student is awarded the degree the day after the
end of the Fall semester.
Example 2: A student is found responsible, and the sanction is to complete an educational or community
service process, e.g., a paper, tutoring, a civil debate, etc. The student finishes this assignment and by July 5.
The student is awarded the degree on July 6.

A vote against this motion means that the faculty recommends that all students, including those who are currently the
subject of the above-mentioned Conduct process, will graduate from the college with the degree of Bachelor of Arts on
May 13.

If the Conduct process were to subsequently yield a sanction equivalent to that of suspension, the response of the
College may be a revocation of the degree for a period equivalent to that of the suspension, followed by reinstatement
of the degree afterwards. For lesser potential sanctions, the College may seek to withhold verification of degrees until
the sanction is implemented or find other means to make the sanction meaningful.

Motion 2. (only applicable if motion 1 carries) Students whose degree is granted conditionally will be eligible to
participate in the first Commencement ceremony following the completion of the Conduct Process: either after a finding
of non-responsibility or completion of any sanctions after a finding of responsibility. The College has never let a student
walk who did not fulfill all requirements for the degree. If we voted to award the degree conditionallyfor we believe
that unresolved major concerns about students good standing preclude us from awarding their degree at this
momentthen it automatically follows that we should not allow these students to walk at this time, but only after they
received the degree. One may argue that this constitutes a sanction in and by itself. This is not the intent. It is the
consequence of actions that led to serious charges, the fact that this occurred late in the academic year, and the need to
offer a full and fair process to determine responsibility and sanctions. All decisions we make have differential impacts on
people who are situated differently. Imagine a junior who engaged in the exact same behavior as that of senior and
receives a one-semester suspension. The junior would not be able to graduate with his or her class next year, but, in the
absence of my proposed motion, the faculty would be recommending that todays senior would. Please note that I have
expressed the commitment to mitigate hardships resulting from this decision, as indicated in my note to the students
concerned: The College is committed to ensuring that we do not inadvertently create a financial penalty to you. For that
reason, we will reimburse you for all cancellation fees you and your family may incur for travel and hotels as a result of
this decision.

What does adoption of this motion concretely mean for the timing of eligibility to participate in Commencement?
-If the conduct matter is fully resolved, including the satisfaction or completion of any sanctions, prior to the close of
regular business hours on May 12, 2017, the student shall be eligible to participate in the Commencement Ceremony on
May 13, 2017.
-If the conduct matter is not fully resolved by May 12th, the student shall be eligible to participate in the first
Commencement Ceremony following the completion of the conduct process, including the satisfaction or completion of
any sanctions.
Example: A student is found responsible, and the sanctions include the deferral of the students degree until
the end of the summer or fall 2017 semester. The student would then be eligible to participate in the May 2018
Commencement Ceremony.

A vote against means that the faculty is recommending that all students whose degrees were awarded conditionally will
be allowed to walk in commencement, but the faux-leather binder they receive will be empty for they have not yet met
the condition to receive the diploma. This has never been done before at the College, but it would follow from your
combined votes to accept the first motion and reject the second.