At the next Board meeting, the administrators examine the reports, and in most cases take no action.

"There is often some kind of report to the Board, in the way the resident deans share other info about goings-on in the community, as a way of dealing with exaggerated rumors," Lewis writes in an e-mail message.

He estimates that about twice a month the board discusses disciplinary action based on the findings of a police report.

If the offense is serious enough to merit court action, the Ad Board will usually delay its decision to avoid creating paperwork the court could subpoena, says Cabot House senior tutor Robert H. Neugeboren.

The Board, he says, considers itself to be less adversarial than the courts and expects students to tell the full truth before the board.

Sometimes student behavior is a Harvard offense but not a criminal act. In this case, the board may act on the police report and will call the officer for more information.

A Closed Court

HUPD turns evidence over to the Ad Board, which, unlike a court of law, is not bound by the legal principle of due process.