Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said yesterday he opposes a student proposal to publish a full list of Administrative Board cases and punishments because of privacy concerns.
The Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH) had made the suggestion, which was supported by former Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, in a meeting CLUH had with Lewis last week.
"There are limits on what you can do because of the simple fact that if a case is one of a kind...revealing the disposition of the case would be a violation of the Buckley amendment," Lewis said in an interview.
The Buckley amendment, formally known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, protects the confidentiality of students' records in a variety of matters, including disciplinary cases.
"This just indicates that at least he is willing to have a dialogue about the issue," said CLUH Co-Director R. Brian Black '97. "As long as he continues to be receptive to suggestions, I don't really consider this a setback."
Black said one compromise might include publication of all types of infractions with their punishments, instead of a full list of the specifics of all cases.
Currently, the guide to the Ad Board gives a set of specific sample cases and the corresponding punishments, as well as a numeric breakdown of the types of cases heard by the board in the past year.
The controversy surrounding the disciplinary board comes in the wake of the Ad Board's decision to place William L. Kirtley '97 on disciplinary probation for making a prank phone call.
Students seeking to reform the Ad Board have stressed that disciplinary boards at other Ivy League schools include students.
Undergraduate Council Parliamentarian Justin E. Jones '97, sponsor of a Council bill to put students on the Ad Board, said that the CLUH proposal did not go far enough.
"While it is certainly not a bad idea in terms of demystifying the Ad Board, it doesn't address the prob- Information to Tutors Lewis said that in response to student concern about the Ad Board process, he has asked Allston Burr Senior Tutors to explain the process to interested residents. "I think it is a good idea to get out more information on what the Ad Board does," said Lewis. Several senior tutors said they have already included an item in their house newsletters inviting students to discuss the Ad Board with them. Winthrop House Tutor Marina C. McCarthy said that although "students haven't had many questions," she was considering holding a question-and-answer session for students
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