This opening will remove the motivation to not notify campus police, said Crystal J. Paulk one of the first student journalists to cover the campus disciplinary hearings at the University of Georgia after they were opened by the state Supreme Court in 1993. State supported institutions in Georgia are the only schools in the nation with open student courts. The secrecy they have been allowed to operate under only serves to paralyze the entire community from protecting itself against violence on campus. Markiewicz, a recent graduate, and The Miami Student are involved in a lawsuit seeking access to disciplinary board information under Ohio's public records law. Thorpe, who missed a year of school after the assault, is now suing her old school and calling on Congress to reform the system, she was recently featured in a USA Today article.
Experts also believe that the use of such diversion to under-report student crime is wide spread.
Without access to campus police logs and the outcome of campus disciplinary proceedings that involve allegations of criminal behavior, students have no means for assuring that the statistics their school provides are accurate. Student journalists are often unable now to inform their communities about the same types of incidents that their professional peers write and broadcast about every day of the year. This legislation would allow students to have the information that they need to protect themselves according to students supporting its passage. And its about future students' right to know and choose a college based on all the facts, rather than just the ones the administration or the public relations office would like them to see. The House is expected to consider the provisions of this legislation during the reauthorization later this year of the Higher Education Act of 1965 with Senate consideration coming in 1998.