By Meagan Walker
In a West Village C classroom last Wednesday, members of the student judiciary board gathered to find an appropriate sanction for Kip Winger’s offense at an Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (OSCCR) hearing.
Winger, a student who lives in Davenport B, had his party broken up by a Resident Assistant. But Winger isn’t the average Northeastern student – in fact, he isn’t a student at all.
The incident and hearing were part of OSCCR’s mock hearing, which was part of last week’s “Integrity Week,” and was meant to educate students on the OSCCR process. Winger was merely a character in the proceedings.
At the front of the classroom, a long table was set up and five student judiciary members pulled up their chairs. Throughout the rest of the room, chairs were filled by spectators, who would not have been there under actual hearing circumstances, said Slandah Dieujuste, assistant director of OSCCR.
“Since we need to keep things that go on at OSCCR private, we like to give students an idea of what goes on at the OSCCR hearings,” Dieujuste said. “But we are not any kind of secret society.”
Danielle O’Neill, a freshman undecided major who was attending the hearing, said she understood why the proceedings needed to be kept private.
“After being at the hearing, I understand why things at OSCCR are kept behind closed doors. Some kids might be embarrassed that they have gotten in trouble,” O’Neill said.
Each member of the mock hearing’s judiciary board heard the stories from both the charged student, Winger, and the Northeastern police officer who had supposedly arrived at the scene. Both the police officer, actual Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) Officer Adam Keeling and the charged student made their opening statements and then were questioned by the judiciary members.
“A student comes in and presents his case and has the option of having an advisor if they would like. The advisor is there for moral support,” Dieujuste said during the mock hearing.
The advisors, however, cannot speak while the hearing is in session. Each judiciary member had numerous chances to ask questions of both the charged student and the police officer.
The charges brought against Winger included distribution of alcohol, illegal possession/consumption of alcohol and noise disturbances in the residence halls. These charges placed Winger under a level one distribution violation, which is the worst possible for distribution violations. Winger received one semester of suspension from the university, including the following semester on probation, as well as being required to write a paper on the alcohol policies in Massachusetts.
After the mock hearing, the audience was assured that most proceedings take much more time and consideration before reaching a final statement and sanction for the student. The hearings can sometimes last from 5 p.m. until midnight, Dieujuste said.
The mock hearing was accelerated, only lasting about an hour, but Dieujuste said it still gave a glimpse behind the closed doors of OSCCR hearings.
“Holding these [mock] hearings is an advantage for the student. It gives the student a better understanding of what goes on at the hearings, the process in general and helps them better understand the student handbook,” Dieujuste said.
