Currently, the Office of Student Conduct is allowed to place additional charges against students even if they were not filed by N.C. State Campus Police. Believe it or not, but I was presented with a similar situation in a Judicial Board hearing. The time has come to take the judicial system out of the hands of the Office of Student Conduct, and put it back where put belongs — in the hands of the students. My colleagues at various institutions have discussed with me the power grabs that have taken place, by the judicial affairs offices at their respective institutions.

Over the course of this semester, I have made proposals that will build a judicial system that’s student-run, fair and accountable. These proposals include the creation of a student appeals board, removal of student transcripts from hearing packets and allowing graduate students the opportunity to be judged by their peers. In addition to having a board that would permit students to be heard by their peers, it has been a mission of mine to increase the diversity of the faculty pool. Currently, we have two female and zero African-American faculty members. This is an absolute disgrace to the judicial process. We cannot continue to have a faculty pool that does not reflect the diverse population of the University community.

I continue to hear and feel the need for change in Student Conduct and the student judicial process. This October will mark the start of the proposed increase in the standard of proof. Opponents of this change will suggest that this proposal will jeopardize the academic integrity and safety of our campus community. On the contrary, the beyond a reasonable doubt threshold is used at Stanford, the University of Virginia, UNC-Chapel Hill, William & Mary and various other institutions. In my research, I discovered the beyond a reasonable doubt standard had been used at NCSU in the 1970s and 80s. Academic cases already meet the beyond a reasonable doubt, due to the physical evidence that is presented to the Board by professors. Conversely, I’m concerned about some non-academic cases. This standard of proof will mandate that police officers meet the 95 percent mark to find a student guilty of any charge. Students who bring their cases to the Judicial Board, if found or plead guilty, could be suspended or expelled from the University. Unlike high school, students are not suspended for three or five days. Instead, students could be suspended from the University for one or more semesters. The decisions that we make as Board members have a direct impact on the lives of students. That is why I am so passionate about increasing the standard of proof.

In addition to my concerns with the Judicial Board, I’m even more concerned about administrative hearings and disciplinary conferences. One of the misconceptions students have is that everyone has the right to have their case brought before the Judicial Board. Unfortunately, that’s not the case at our institution. Students who have gone through these processes have expressed the blatant disregard for their rights and due process. Students have stated they felt they had the burden of proving their innocence, which is the opposite of what is established in the Code of Student Conduct and procedures manual.

I didn’t write this column for a recommendation from the Office of Student Conduct. Instead, I write on behalf of the hundreds of students who have been disenfranchised by our current judicial system, and those students who believe that we can and must rebuild our judicial system.

Now is the time for the campus community to make the case for increasing the standard of proof. The time has come for the administration to hear the concerns of students who pay their salaries through the tuition and fees that are paid to this University. The time has come for students to stop asking for power, and learn how to take it from those individuals who have claimed it by shredding the rulebook. Our cause is about justice and protecting students’ rights — I’m ready for this fight. In the words of Muhammad Ali, I plan to “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” as I take the fight for justice to the next level.