Dean of Undergraduate Education Steve Nowicki told members of the newly formed Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Review Committee Jan. 29 that the task force would be put on hiatus in response to ongoing litigation against the University.
The suspension was a preemptive measure to prevent members of the organization from being deposed or otherwise embroiled in action related to the lawsuit filed in December against the University by three unindicted members of the 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team, Nowicki said.
"University Counsel Pam Bernard came to me last week and... said this task force puts its members at risk of being asked to be witnesses or be deposed... [and] the kinds of things they might talk about could put Duke at risk," he said.
He added that he plans to address the issue further at the Feb. 20 meeting of Duke Student Government, at which point he hopes to have a better idea about how the committee's goals can be advanced without incurring legal action.
"I launched this task force at the request of DSG and what I thought was a good process now has changed because when I launched that process we didn't have this lawsuit," he said.
Though committee members acknowledged the possibility of deposition in continuing their work, DSG President Paul Slattery, a senior, expressed some skepticism that pausing the committee's action was the necessary response.
"If that were in fact the only justification, it would seem you would just ask the committee members if they were willing to be deposed," he said. "The ancillary justification of decreasing the University's legal exposure is unfortunately more plausible and compelling to me."
The task force, an ad hoc addition to the Academic Integrity Council, was established following the April 2007 revision of the Duke Community Standard and concerns about the state of judicial affairs from DSG.
The review of undergraduate judicial policy began after Slattery sent a memo to administrators and the Board of Trustees in September, saying that the current policy infringes on a number of student rights.
Nowicki charged the 15-member committee, comprising students, faculty and staff, with evaluating Duke's policies in the context of peer institutions' and making recommendations for potential improvements. The task force, which began meeting weekly mid-Fall, planned to report on their findings at the end of the Spring semester.
"Given the work the committee has done and the importance of the issue, it was disappointing. And for Dean Nowicki, I think it was a unique opportunity to exercise leadership on behalf of students," said senior Gina Ireland, DSG vice president for academic affairs and member of the committee. "I really think it was unfortunate for him."
Nowicki said a reevaluation of judicial policy should resume after the litigation. Slattery also said this would be essential, regardless of solutions developed during the interim.
"In a way this committee is going away for a period of time because it ultimately has to happen at some point," Slattery said. "It's imperative that a very motivated group of students-DSG or not -pick this back up. The administration won't remind students to address this issue."
Committee Chair Noah Pickus, director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics, could not immediately be reached for comment.
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