Mamoon Darwish (TYP) is now allowed back on campus after the University Board of Appeals lifted his suspension in a hearing last Wednesday. University Police arrested Darwish on the night of Feb. 16 after his involvement in a fistfight on South Street due to an earlier, undisclosed incident. The charges for this undisclosed incident were later dropped.

Neither Darwish nor Laura Cohen '09, the director of the Student Union's Office of Student Conduct Advisors and Darwish's advisor throughout this process, would disclose any information on the undisclosed incident.

The University Board of Student Conduct suspended Darwish from campus in a Feb. 29 hearing. Darwish's suspension was originally deemed to be in effect until May 2008.

"I believe the Board made a fair and balanced decision. [Darwish's] right to due process and procedural fairness were upheld during [Wednesday's] hearing," Cohen said.

Darwish was unavailable for comment after repeated requests.

According to an e-mail sent to the Justice by Cohen Thursday, Darwish had a sanction hearing for the fistfight case on Wednesday, during which the "Board of Appeals reheard all witnesses and all were cross examined."

Sanctions recommended during the appeal may still be modified.

According to the Rights and Responsibilities handbook: "Upon completion of the appeal hearing, the Appeals Board may uphold the original decision and sanction imposed, find the student not responsible, or increase or decrease the sanction. Any sanctions shall not take effect until approved or modified by the Dean of Student Life or the Director of Student Development and Conduct."

According to Cohen, the sanctions recommended in the hearing are disciplinary and residential probation, which will be in effect until December 2008.

The Rights and Responsibilities handbook says, "The status of residence probation reminds the student that his/her infraction has become part of their record and that repetition of similar or other unacceptable behavior may be cause for removal from the residence halls."

The handbook also says: "A student who is placed on disciplinary probation is permitted to remain enrolled at the University, often under certain stated conditions depending upon the nature of the violation and potential learning value that may be derived from such conditions. . The student is subject to further disciplinary actions, including suspension or dismissal, if they violates [sic] the terms of the probation or in any way fails to conduct themselves as a responsible member of the University community."

Cohen said, "After reading the new sanctions, Prof. William Kapelle (HIST), chair of the Appeals Board, stated that [Darwish] was allowed back on campus."

According to Cohen, though the hearing lasted over three hours, there were about 10 or 15 supporters who waited outside the hearing room from beginning to end.

"I think it's a testament to how committed the students of this campus are not only to upholding due process and procedural fairness, but to the University's greater message of social justice," Cohen said.

Cohen said it was unfortunate that it has taken until the end of the semester to resolve both of [Darwish's] cases, and because he was suspended for such a long period of time, he was not given the opportunity to finish his TYP year.

Prof. Gordon Feldman (SOC), Darwish's advisor for most of Wednesday's hearing, wrote in an e-mail with the Justice on Thursday that Darwish can "complete the few remaining days of the semester by going to his classes. I don't know how he can catch up on work lost till now.