New organization plans to defend and support students charged in new conduct system

On March 19, student advisors from the UNC Office of Student Conduct launched the Student Advocacy Network, an independent defense group aimed at providing more robust representation for students facing charges in the new staff-led Conduct Board System. The group hopes to work around the new system’s restrictions on student counsel.

The new staff-led Conduct Board System took effect on Aug. 12, 2024, and the new Student Code of Conduct and Procedures was released four days later. The board replaced the longstanding student-led Honor System. The new system sets limitations on how student advisors, who are trained by the Office of Student Conduct, can represent and defend clients. 

Some advisors felt the new system's constraints prevented them from adequately aiding students, so 15 came together to form the group. 

Brock Bland, a student advisor in the Conduct Office, is the president and a founding member of SAN. He said the organization will be structured like a cost-free defense firm.

At the time of its launch, he said SAN will already be working on about five student conduct cases and representing multiple student organizations.

“Our intention is to protect students as much as we absolutely can,” Bland said.

The Student Advocacy Network

Bland said the organization will have three main goals: to increase the number of students obtaining representation in the conduct system, to increase their ability to defend students and to have a productive working relationship with the Office of Student Conduct.

He said that due to the new staff-led review process, SAN wants to prioritize student support.

“They made this new system that made it easier for students to be found guilty of a conduct violation,” Bland said.

Student counsels can now only make procedural motions in hearings for their defendants, explained Matthew Tweden, the speaker of the Undergraduate Senate. He said under the current system, advisors can no longer write defenses, introduce arguments or speak on a student’s behalf.

“Under the new system, students have significantly less access to a zealous defense afforded by student counsels,” Tweden said.

The organization will allow students to have a team working on their conduct case defense by FERPA-clearing multiple advocates, Bland said.

He said students charged in the conduct system can allow advocates to access their case information by filling out a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act waiver. When FERPA-cleared, advocates can gain students’ records from the University and help formulate defense plans.

Bland said SAN is bound by a confidentiality agreement to protect the information of students that seek their help. He said this is legally enforceable by civil suit.

“Unless you’re assigned on helping out a student, then there’s no reason for you to know that information,” said Kendall Esque, another founder of SAN and advisor in the Office of Student Conduct. 

She said SAN will have an email and a website form where students can reach out for assistance and discuss with advocates the best path for further support. Even if they don't need case assistance, she said the SAN encourages students to ask any questions they have about student conduct. 

Bland said from August through October, there were only 32 cases out of 398, about 8 percent, in which students requested and received a student advisor from the Conduct Office. He said the SAN aims to reach as many students as possible and increase the percentage of students who request some form of counsel.

Esque said the SAN will also foster unity among advocates that was not present in the Conduct Office and allow them to take joint action on trends they notice in cases, Esque said.

“I don't want it to be a secret that there's someone out there who knows something, that can help you if you're in a hard situation like this,” Esque said.

A more 'punishing' system 

Logan Grodsky, an undergraduate senator, said the new system is much more “punishing” for students.

The old Honor System required “clear and convincing” evidence to find a student guilty of a conduct offense. Now, the new one only requires a preponderance of evidence, or the offense being “more likely than not.”

“It could be almost fifty-fifty whether or not they actually become guilty, which is very troubling,” Grodsky said.

Bland said he foresees tension between the Conduct Office and the launch of the SAN. He said this is unconcerning because he believes they will discuss the practicality of the organization with Director of the Office of Student Conduct Jenni Spangenberg and other administrators. 

He said he doubts a mass layoff of student advisors would happen but that if it did, all would remain advocates in SAN.

The former Honor System was notoriously inefficient with caseloads compared to the new one, Bland said. He also said the Conduct Office’s transition from a team of over 40 student employees to a few staff members created a large workload that has led to students “falling through the cracks.”

UNC Media Relations stated no one was available for an interview regarding the Honor System transition after multiple requests to speak with either Spangenberg, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Amy Johnson or Provost Chris Clemens. 

“We're doing this because we want to protect the rights of students, not because we want to threaten the efficiency of the new system,” Bland said.

Bland said SAN is grateful for support from Student Body President Jaleah Taylor and Student Body President-Elect Adolfo Alvarez. He said the group is excited to work with the administrations while it seeks to become an official student organization next Fall.

On March 15, Alvarez posted a statement in support of student input and counsel in the conduct system to his official SBP Instagram account. 

“There must be clear and equitable processes for student representation and advising for those accused of violations,” Alvarez wrote in the statement.

In an email to The Daily Tar Heel, Alvarez said he originally intended to publish the statement upon his inauguration on April 1, 2025. 

“However, I believe publishing it now will give immediate visibility to this advocacy and the importance of keeping student involvement in the Honor System,” he wrote.

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