The New York Times’ front page treatment of a college sexual assault case once again shines a spotlight on what has become the biggest higher ed issue of our times.
It’s the inability of schools to dispense a real sense of justice in what should be criminal matters.
Last Friday, the Times reported that an unidentified Stanford football player was still on the roster for his team’s Sun Bowl appearance that day against North Carolina. His status had gone unchanged even though the player had been before the college’s disciplinary board twice since 2015 and both times was found by a 3-2 vote to have committed a sexual assault.
A majority decision works at the Supreme Court but not in the ad hoc world of college justice empowered by Title IX, where schools are allowed to set their own standards.
Some schools do use a simple majority to find a student responsible. But Stanford is different and requires a 4-1 decision in cases involving a five-member panel.
And even that is less daunting than a new higher standard Stanford has adopted for the more common three-member disciplinary panel.
Unlike other schools that will find a student responsible on a majority decision, Stanford requires unanimity.
