This past June, Silver ’07 was charged by the Honor Board with a Student Honor Code violation for incorrectly citing two papers submitted to an economics class.
After failing a mathematics class, he faced the possibility of Required Resignation, a policy mandating that a student who fails two classes must resign from the University for two semesters and take pre-approved classes for transfer credit elsewhere.
Silver said he accepted full responsibility at the Honor Board hearing on Aug. 30. The violation was not overturned, adding the second failed class to his spring academic record. Silver appealed the forced resignation on Sept. 6 with a written statement. His appeal was rejected and, as it stands, the earliest he can return is Fall 2007.
“If someone would have informed me over the summer that I was going to be suspended, I wouldn’t have worried so much,” Silver said. “I would have enrolled for the fall semester in another school or tried to find a good job. Now it’s too late.”
Silver and hundreds of supporters, largely drawn from the Class of 2007, are fighting the University’s ruling in the matter, arguing that mitigating personal and financial circumstances have not been adequately considered. Per the University’s student loan policy, Silver will be forced to begin debt repayment six months after leaving, which in turn he claims will lead to substantial financial difficulty.
Supporters also point to Silver’s contributions to the University community, which include leadership positions in three student groups, as evidence that his presence here is fundamentally positive and that his academic failings were understandable.
Finally, they hold that the punishment meted out by the University is too harsh.
“The suspension is supposed to help me to refocus academically, but as of right now I don’t see how this year is going to be to my benefit,” Silver said. “All I’m going to be thinking about is financial pressures like paying off three years of loans starting in November.”
Maria Cruz-Saco, dean of the college, and Lisa Gates, dean of the class of 2007, both said they were forbidden by law to divulge details of individual cases, but agreed to explain the resignation and appeal process.
“The criteria for each status are clear and objective—it’s all a matter of grades and credits,” Gates wrote in an email. “Required Resignation is obviously a difficult status, as it does require students to be away from campus for two semesters. But it’s intended to give students time and space away from school to address the issues that have undermined their academic success.”
Students required to resign are also expected to earn pre-approved transfer credits at other institutions if necessary, Gates wrote.
“Students on this status have to earn enough pre-approved transfer credits to be at pace when they return,” Gates wrote. “The idea again is that the student returns in a much stronger academic position, credit-wise as well.”
Yet the “resignation” process also allows for appeal. Those wishing to appeal must present their argument before the Academic Review Committee, a subcommittee of the Educational Policy Committee that is composed of the dean of the college (non-voting), the class deans (non-voting), four faculty members and two students.
Cruz-Saco detailed the process by which an appeal is heard.
“The Committee makes its final decision based on the student’s appeal, a conversation that the student has with members of the Committee in which there is consideration of the circumstances leading to the academic performance, and the student’s academic record,” she said. “The Committee’s decision is final and not subject to further appeal.”
In a bid to demonstrate his academic initiative and to make up for lacking credits, Silver took two summer college classes and received “A’s” in both of them. But when he gave his appeal on Sept. 6, the first day of school, the Academic Review Committee unanimously turned him down, citing lack of readiness to complete his senior year, Silver said.
In his appeal, which can be found online at the Facebook group, “Keep Silver on Campus,” Silver said that he would quit two of his three campus jobs, keeping only his role as a senior interviewer at the admissions office for which he had already begun training. He also determined to halt his activity in three student groups.
However, according to Silver, the Academic Review Committee was not convinced that he would maximize the value of his University education in his final year.
“I have been funding my Wesleyan education by working three work-study jobs, because my mother’s income is too low to enable her to make a family contribution,” he said in his appeal. “However, my wages could not pay for my brother’s expenses on top of my student accounts bill, so I took on more hours. As a result of working longer hours, I had to spend longer nights attempting to complete my school work…My academic efforts fell short, and as a result, I failed two classes.”
After the unsuccessful appeal effort, 249 Wesleyan students, the majority of whom are in Silver’s Class of 2007, expressed their support for him by signing a petition that was given to Dean Gates on Sept. 11 and to President Doug Bennet on the following day.
According to Reyson Punzalan ’07, organizer of the petition, Bennet said that reversing the appeal decision was not in his power.
“I think Wesleyan could have been a little more considerate,” Punzalan said. “The school should have figured out his case before he even left campus.”
Silver’s supporters will not stop backing his attempt to return to the University earlier than next fall, Punzalan said.
“We are trying to question the policy of an automatic one year resignation,” said Punzalan. “We would like to change the policy to a semester [resignation] if that is enough. There’s definitely more to fight for because it extends beyond Silver’s case. A change could affect future students positively.”