WSU conduct board not racially biased, report says

An independent review of Washington State University’s Student Conduct Board found no evidence of racial bias, according to a report completed Feb. 16 and released Wednesday by Lyons O’Dowd, a Coeur d’Alene-based law firm.

WSU President Kirk Schulz commissioned the review in December after the board was accused of racial discrimination in cases involving members of the Cougar football team.

The most prominent display of allegations followed a WSU Board of Regents meeting in November, when hundreds filled a Compton Union Building conference room to protest what they called the poor treatment of 22-year-old nose tackle Robert Barber.

Barber was initially expelled, then his punishment was reduced to suspension, for his alleged part in a July fight that sent two WSU students to the hospital. The Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office charged Barber with felony second-degree assault Friday.

Protesters alleged Barber was treated like “a savage animal” and that he was the victim of mistreatment by the Pullman Police Department and the WSU Student Conduct Board that handled his suspension.

“No student deserves to be demonized the way Robert has. That has damaged him potentially for life,” said Jill Osur-Myers, mother of offensive lineman Noah Osur-Myers and co-creator of CougFam, a parent and family organization.

Washington state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, also involved himself in the protest and held a press conference with Barber after the meeting.

While protesters at the meeting alleged Barber’s punishment had more to do with his race as an American Samoan than his actions, investigators disagreed.

According to the report released by Lyons O’Dowd, investigators reviewed student conduct files, training materials, statistical data and rules and laws pertaining to the conduct board, and while they found no bias, there were concerns with some aspects of the board’s process.

Some concerns about the process included a lack of training for student advisers, the fact that student advisers are not permitted to go beyond providing only procedural advice for students and a lack of student understanding of the process.

“The Lyons report hits several points about the student needing to know our process and understand our process,” said Mary Jo Gonzales, vice president for student affairs at WSU.

Gonzales said the Student Conduct Process Task Force appointed by Schulz in December is currently reviewing the report and is expected to share its own findings and suggestions for a more effective process later this spring.

The report also included several recommendations to improve the student conduct process:

- Make an independent attorney available during all adjudicative hearings and deliberations

- Provide more training concerning conflicts of interest, bias or impartiality and multicultural issues to board members

- Ensure conduct board members do not serve on multiple cases involving the same student

- Send copies of misconduct notices to an adviser identified by the student, such as an athletic coach or Greek adviser

- Increase the number of board members in order to diminish the influence of a single member

- Create written guidelines identifying offenses that are most likely to result in suspension or expulsion.

- Require all decisions to expel or suspend be unanimous

- Provide an adviser to assist the student on both procedural and substantive aspects of proceedings that could end with expulsion or suspension.