By Francesca Block, Princeton '22
March 23, 2023
The system of punishment at Stanford is more than a decade old. Class of 1977 alum Bob Ottilie, . . .who has represented over 100 students investigated by Stanford since 2011, said a majority choose to admit responsibility and accept a lesser punishment through an “early resolution option,” which is like a plea deal. While some take this approach because they committed the violation, he said many choose it because they feel the odds are stacked against them. He sees Stanford’s disciplinary process not as a system designed to find truth, but to punish “bad behavior.” “Think about that,” he added. “That’s a presumption of guilt.” . . . In an April 2021 report, [a Stanford] committee concluded that the university’s disciplinary process is “overly punitive” and “not educational.” Less than one year later, Katie Meyer was dead.
AEI Event
Excerpt: On January 27, author Ilya Shapiro joined AEI’s Jeffrey A. Rosen to discuss Mr. Shapiro’s new book, Lawless: The Miseducation of America’s Elites. In his opening remarks, Mr. Shapiro reflected on the “four years of hell” and “purgatory” he experienced as Georgetown Law investigated whether his tweet about President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court pick violated the university’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies.
During the event’s discussion portion, Mr. Shapiro defined the key terms “lawless” and “miseducation” in his book’s title, noting that “lawless” refers to law schools’ departure from teaching the law and respecting its legitimacy, and that “miseducation” refers to how the bureaucratic culture in law schools influences students.
American Association of University Professors Statement
Excerpt: As Donald Trump assumes the presidency for a second time, the outlook for higher education is dire. The new administration's agenda for higher education has been thoroughly prepared by a series of statewide legal assaults on public colleges and universities in North Carolina, Florida, Texas and elsewhere, as well as by the high-profile congressional witch hunt that within the past year brought down the presidents of three Ivy League institutions.
In such a crisis, it becomes the obligation of the university as an institution to oppose such measures and actively to defend its interests and its values.” This is undoubtedly such a time.