Trial by Jury?

The Administrative Board's decision to review it 66-year-old policy of prohibiting students from testifying on their own behalf is a welcome one. It is true that students may now appeal a Board decision to the Faculty, but it is unlikely that the Faculty would want to become embroiled in minor disciplinary cases. A policy that requires an offender of College rules to submit a letter of explanation--with the possibility of only casual discussion of his case with members of the Board--does not guarantee his interest will be represented as well as it might be.

But it would be equally unfortunate if the Board were to decide that students must always appear before it; indeed, it is not clear that a student would always be better off representing himself. Neither should the Board take steps toward setting up a mock "judicial" process that brings elaborate defense and prosecution mechanisms and rigid college disciplinary rules. Rather, the Board should consider many alternatives, possibly including student representation on the Board, to determine the most flexible, fairest way to treat students.