Lewis says the Ad Board does not need to act asharshly as the judicial system because it relieson students to be open and honest.

"We have an interest in protecting thecommunity and helping students mature," he adds.

But some administrators at other schools say ahearing could never be educational and that amirroring of the procedures of the court systemgives the accused a better opportunity to presenta case.

"Once you get to the hearing, the purpose of ahearing is not educational," says Amelious N.Whyte, assistant to the vice president of studentdevelopment at the University of Minnesota- TwinCities (UMTC).

Disciplinary processes at many schools such asUMTC and Cornell University imitate the legalsystem.

"Our code is very similar to a criminalsystem," says Linda Falkson, acting judicialadministrator at Cornell. "I used to be aprosecutor. It's very similar."

Silverglate, who says he has advised dozens ofstudents going before the Ad Board in the past,says he is skeptical that the investigation of acrime can be educational for the student beinginterrogated.

"How can this be an educational process? You'retrying to find out facts," he says. "Once theyfind somebody guilty by a process that is fair andrational then I can understand taking educationinto account in deciding a punishment."

Gathering the Evidence

While few, if any, disciplinary boards at otherschools have the right to subpoena documents, mostrequire an elaborate interview process to dig upthe facts--interviewing the accused, the accuserand other witnesses in a way similar to crossexamination in the court system.

But Harvard permits only the members of the AdBoard to ask questions, preventing the accused andthe accuser from directly interrogating eachother.

It relies mainly on written statements from thecomplainant and the defendant. Both students havethe opportunity to respond to the writtenstatements of the other.

"The people reading your statement tend to seethings that happen here as essentially educationalin nature, and as grist for the learning mill,"the user's guide to the Ad Board says.

"While a court of law may be interested solelyin establishing guilt or innocence, the Ad Boardwants to know whether or how you have grown orchanged as a result of your experience," it goeson to say.

In more complicated cases, like sexual assaultor rape, the Ad Board often first convenes asubcommittee to collect evidence and submit awritten report to the full group.