DC Student Defense

Irresponsible drinking might be summed up as the philosophy of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger."  Responsible drinking – a much repeated phrase on campuses by students and universities alike – might be summed up…

The other night my 18-year old woke up crying from a nightmare.  Don’t get me wrong – she’s a tough enough kid – a competitive full-contact martial arts fighter since she was twelve.  But she’s starting…

To paraphrase the French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: First, we show up. Then we figure out what to do. Mentors help you do that. But more importantly, the act of seeking them makes us smarter about ourselves. Seeking…

Who decides who is being noisy?  DC recently amended its anti-noise laws to specify that: “It is unlawful to make an unreasonably loud noise between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. that is likely to annoy or…

Numerous college and university student disciplinary codes don’t allow students to have a lawyer present at a student disciplinary hearing.  The colleges and universities may argue that this prohibition is allowable because their proceedings are not…

o·ri·en·ta·tion /ˌôrēənˈtāSHən/ Noun: The determination of the relative position of something or someone (esp. oneself). The relative physical position or direction of something. See “Orientation.” Def. Google.com, n.d. Web. 22 July 2013. The freshman orientations occurring…

University and college student conduct investigations about school sexual assaults suffer from the same defect as Pentagon- approved investigations. The New York Times calls it a “key structural flaw in the military’s handling of (sexual) assault…

A recent Businessweek article reported that business school admissions staff increasingly relies upon plagiarism-detecting software. But Admissions is late to the game as anecdotal tales abound of wholesale abdication to software review of papers by professors,…

Claiming human rights violations, students sued Howard University and a sorority chapter, alleging hazing. The accusations of hazing included having to wear a certain shirts on certain days, using different doors than full-fledged sisters, and lining…

Drug courts – where intervention, treatment and peer accountability take precedence over jail time – have proved themselves an effective remedy for non-violent drug offenses. Colleges and universities should consider a similar approach to ADHD medication…