Anatomy of the CODE
The University's Code of Student Conduct has a long ancestry - with clauses to keep you guessing
Evidence for Code differs from the courts
To be ruled guilty in a hearing under the Code of Student Conduct, less evidence is required than in a court of criminal law.
In criminal cases, juries are required to convict a defendant only if his or her guilt is proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
In civil cases, plaintiffs need only to convince a jury of a 51-percent likelihood of guilt.
When University students are brought into a hearing under the Code of Student Conduct, the standard of proof falls somewhere in between. Code panelists are asked to use the measurement of "clear-and-convincing" evidence before ruling an accused student responsible for an infringement.
Code activists reflect on past, future
Anne Marie Ellison insists she is not a rebel without a cause.
An LSA junior and chair of the Students' Rights Commission for the Michigan Student Assembly, Ellison's name is indefinitely linked with efforts to dismantle the Code of Student Conduct.
09-13-96