John Mallon had never heard of the Student Conduct Code until a policeman said he would be referred to Student Judicial Affairs for punishment after an early semester house party.
Before Carbondale authorities busted the party up, Mallon said he had no idea such a code or such a court-like department existed at SIUC.
Now, the junior from Oak Lawn studying mathematics education is appealing a Student Judicial Affairs ruling requiring him to watch an educational video about alcohol and write a five-page paper.
Mallon said the university charges - selling alcohol to minors and consuming alcohol while underage - are unfounded. Mallon also faces Jackson County criminal charges of selling alcohol without a license. He plead guilty and has been fined $250.
He's just one of several students who have been through the judicial affairs system, reprimanded and appealed on grounds that the body violated constitutional provisions of due process and proof of guilt.
Mallon is also among the students who were oblivious to the code's existence before being hit with charges and who still have no idea what it's all about.
"A lot of students aren't aware of what it's about," Mallon said. "I think that it's pretty sketchy how as soon as you sign up for classes here, as soon as you pay the university your tuition money, you automatically fall under the long arm of the Student Conduct Code."
Hard copies of the code are hard to come by. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Larry Dietz last week said the only access to the code is via the Internet.
A receptionist at the Student Judicial Affairs office said no copies of the code were available, and students should look online for the guidelines.
Until about three years ago, the university used to mail out a "gray book" to students each year that listed SIUC's policies and procedures, Dietz said. As money got tight, administrators decided to make the code exclusively available online.
He said new and transfer students are mainly advised on how to find the code during annual orientation programs, but there are no in-depth sessions during that time.
Among the nearly 9,000 words that compose the code is the phrase: "It is each student's responsibility to know and comply with the SIUC Student Conduct Code and any policies referenced therein."
Hannah Myer, a freshman from Belleville studying geology, said she first heard of the Student Conduct Code in newspaper reports last week.
Myer said she looked in a packet she received during move-in weekend for a copy of the code and was worried when there wasn't one.
"I really wanted to know more about this, like what I'm supposed to adhere to. I didn't have the code to read and didn't really have any idea how to find it until I Googled it," she said.
The Student Conduct Code is the law, the campus constitution. The code and its enforcer - Student Judicial Affairs - are in a field completely separate from anything outside the university.
Hearings conducted by Student Judicial Affairs in Woody Hall are not criminal or civil court. Sanctions within the code and imposed by Student Judicial Affairs range from writing an essay to being expelled.
Hugh Williams, owner of Williams Law Firm in Carbondale and an administration of justice graduate student, said more should be done to get students acclimated to the code.
"The students and the university need to wake up and have a serious conversation about this," Williams said.
University administrators have stood by the code in the face of requests for its reform and claims that it is unfair.
In a fall 2000 interview with the DAILY EGYPTIAN, Student Judicial Affairs coordinator Terry Huffman said sanctions such as essay writing are meant to be an educational form of deterrence.
Some cases, he said, require more extreme measures.
"You can't get to some individuals, you can't touch them, you can't reach them," Huffman said.
Brandon Weisenberger can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or brandon_weisenberger@dailyegyptian.com.
