What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania
I don't know if too many people are that nuanced with resident hall policy at state colleges in my state, but I've fallen victim to it even if I didn't do anything wrong. As so, I'd hope that people a little bit more informed when it comes to law would be able to touch base with me here.
I go to Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, where I'm currently a freshman and a sociology major. I like to go out and have fun every weekend like any other college student. But one night, I came back to my dorm to notice that there was a couch lying in the middle of the room. I asked my roommate where it came from, and he informed me that him and my friend from another school (Penn State Behrend) pushed it from the lobby so that my friend could have somewhere to sleep at night. I didn't think anything of it.
A few days later, a few resident hall staff members knocked on my door and demanded that I bring the couch back. I was given a mutual agreement form that alleged that I took the couch, and that I'd be given a disciplinary warning if I accepted responsibility for the allegations that they made against me. I knew that I didn't take the couch, but I didn't want to get my friends in trouble, and I didn't think that the punishment sounded that bad, so I signed the form to avoid a lengthy hearing with the Resident Hall Judicial Affairs Board.
I thought that was it, but I was wrong. I was visited by them a week later with another residence hall mutual agreement disciplinary form. My coordinator gave me a community service project for violating the agreement standard of "taking a couch"-even though I was already given a sanction by her already for the same violation with the disciplinary warning. I once again wanted to avoid any legal trouble with judicial affairs, so I signed agreement to avoid causing any problems.
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But when I look back at it, I am innocent lol! I have people who can testify that I wasn't even in the dorm at the time that the couch was moved in. I even videos and pictures (with the time located in it) that place me at a far different location than my resident hall. I pointed that out to my coordinator, but she claimed that "people had seen me push the couch around."
Is there any way I can still get a formal hearing to dispute the allegations, or have I waived my right to a hearing or appeal (as the mutual agreement form claimed that I would if I signed the document that admitted my guilt) for good? Is it legal for them to give me a second sanction for the same offense? I feel like I'm getting screwed here!
I don't know if too many people are that nuanced with resident hall policy at state colleges in my state, but I've fallen victim to it even if I didn't do anything wrong. As so, I'd hope that people a little bit more informed when it comes to law would be able to touch base with me here.
I go to Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, where I'm currently a freshman and a sociology major. I like to go out and have fun every weekend like any other college student. But one night, I came back to my dorm to notice that there was a couch lying in the middle of the room. I asked my roommate where it came from, and he informed me that him and my friend from another school (Penn State Behrend) pushed it from the lobby so that my friend could have somewhere to sleep at night. I didn't think anything of it.
A few days later, a few resident hall staff members knocked on my door and demanded that I bring the couch back. I was given a mutual agreement form that alleged that I took the couch, and that I'd be given a disciplinary warning if I accepted responsibility for the allegations that they made against me. I knew that I didn't take the couch, but I didn't want to get my friends in trouble, and I didn't think that the punishment sounded that bad, so I signed the form to avoid a lengthy hearing with the Resident Hall Judicial Affairs Board.
I thought that was it, but I was wrong. I was visited by them a week later with another residence hall mutual agreement disciplinary form. My coordinator gave me a community service project for violating the agreement standard of "taking a couch"-even though I was already given a sanction by her already for the same violation with the disciplinary warning. I once again wanted to avoid any legal trouble with judicial affairs, so I signed agreement to avoid causing any problems.
------------
But when I look back at it, I am innocent lol! I have people who can testify that I wasn't even in the dorm at the time that the couch was moved in. I even videos and pictures (with the time located in it) that place me at a far different location than my resident hall. I pointed that out to my coordinator, but she claimed that "people had seen me push the couch around."
Is there any way I can still get a formal hearing to dispute the allegations, or have I waived my right to a hearing or appeal (as the mutual agreement form claimed that I would if I signed the document that admitted my guilt) for good? Is it legal for them to give me a second sanction for the same offense? I feel like I'm getting screwed here!