After UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore and alleged rape victim Landen Gambill made news in December when the UNC-CH Honor Court exonerated the student she accused of assaulting her, some N.C. State students found it surprising that a student disciplinary committee dealt with such a serious allegation.

Could the same thing happen at N.C. State? 

Yes, said Paul Cousins, director of the Office of Student Conduct. Going through the Student Conduct office for a rape case, a crime punishable by the death penalty for most of the United States’ history, is not only possible, but preferred by some victims, Cousins said.

“A criminal process is public, and our process has protections that aren’t offered in the criminal process,” Cousins said. “They say that the legal process is so hard and time consuming that it’s getting victimized a second time. Getting cross-examined by someone’s defense attorney in a rape case can be a daunting task. There is no representation, nor are there attorneys speaking for people, so it is a less adversarial conversation to have in Student Conduct.”

The Gambill case, which flared in February after the UNC-CH Honor Court claimed that alleged victim was creating an “intimidating environment” for the acquitted defendant, received attention from the national media after she publically urged the Honor Court to drop her charges. The threat of expulsion motivated Gambill, and 300 other students, to protest what she calls a “gross injustice.”

Though Gambill could have pressed charges in the criminal justice system, Cousins said many students he has worked with opt to work out settlements through student conduct organizations.

“I cannot comment on behalf of Gambill as to why she took her course of action in the UNC-CH Honor Court, and I stress that neither the UNC-CH Honor Court or N.C. State’s Student Conduct office are trying to replicate the criminal process in miniature,” Cousins said. “The difference here is that a criminal process is public, and our process has protections that aren’t offered in the criminal process.”

Despite the difference between the student-conduct and criminal-justice systems, Cousins said his office offers students the option to pursue cases in the legal system in tandem with his office’s investigations. In this case, reporting to the legal system means reporting to county authorities. 

“We don’t force anyone to use any process,” said Turi Watson, associate director of the N.C. State Office of Student Conduct. “We offer them their options, and we explain what the dynamics are like, what the experience is like, but we never say, ‘You have to use it.’”

A Department of Education 2009 mandate has influenced campus conduct policies across the nation. The Dear Colleague Letter, a memorandum from the department’s Office of Civil Rights, stipulates that even if an assaulter abuses a student, but the victim doesn’t want to come forth, it is still the institution’s duty to try to correct the possible misbehavior. 

“It’s our responsibility to correct anything going on in the community, which could be environmentally, structurally or culturally instrumental in the problem … but the federal government expects us to do everything within our control to have a safe community,” Cousins said. 

Campus policies and student-conduct councils’ procedures for conducting hearings vary from university to university, and UNC-CH upholds its decisions to a high standard of proof.

“Based on clarification of the Title IX law, which is the federal law, the standard of proof is more likely than not — or preponderance of the evidence,” Cousins said. “In simple terms: 51 percent. In all other regards, Chapel Hill has used the criminal standard: beyond reasonable doubt.”

The Dear Colleague Letter primarily addresses sexual assault and harassment of students and standardizes a recommended response — elaborated in Title IX — to preserve the right for students to “receive and education free from discrimination.”

The National Institute of Justice reported that one of five women falls victims to sexual assault while in college, according to the Dear Colleague Letter. Between 2007 and 2010, N.C. State reported eight cases of rape on campus.

Cousins said that while his office seeks to give everyone equal treatment, Student Conduct doesn’t have the luxury of being an advocacy group for victims.

“We’re looking at the alleged victim, the rights of the respondent, and we are looking at the rights for the community,” Cousins said. “It’s places like the Counseling Center and the Women’s Center that can play that role of advocacy.”

The Women’s Center offers many interpersonal violence resources, including a 24-hour anonymous and confidential sexual violence hotline, at 919-618-RAPE (7273). The Counseling Center has a 24-hour “Counselors on Call” program every day of the year, which can be reached at 919-515-2423.

“We want to be a resource that students can trust, and I’m not sure who’s willing to play these things out publically,” Cousins said. “We’re happy to help whoever we can.”