"It is the details of the case that led to ourmotion," they wrote in the letter. "It is easy toimagine rapes that warrant the most severe penaltywe can confer, if not more. It is our belief thatthis rape does not fall into that category."

"The solution lies in education, not our mostsevere penalty for the first individual to admitto his wrongdoing," they wrote.

Ryan said others in favor of dismissal,including herself, recognized that the woman hadrefused Douglas's advances several times.

"She told him 'no' from the very beginning,"Ryan said. "I think that weighed very heavily inpeople's minds."

But she said that, while discussion was focusedon this issue, she thought many Faculty memberswere aware that a case that, according to mediareports, might be more violent--presumably that ofJoshua M. Elster, Class of 2000--could be comingbefore the Faculty in the future.

She said many worried that this case crossed a"threshold" required for dismissal.

The senior administrator said some professorsquestioned whether Douglas's civil liberties hadbeen violated by the Ad Board process.

"If he had a lawyer present, he might not haveconfessed," the administrator said.

The woman assaulted by Douglas said yesterdaythat the continued debate over consent andmiscommunication has reopened old wounds.

"[The account in Tuesday's Boston Globe] makesthe events sound like a harmless date after whichI was 'upset," the woman wrote in an e-mailmessage. "I was upset...because I was raped in myown bed against my will."

Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to thereporting of this story.