But Robert Iuliano, who has been an attorney with the General Counsel's office for seven years, says that his office doesn't have this type of involvement in Ad Board cases.

"The responsibility for student discipline rests with the administrative board (subject, of course, to faculty oversight) and it alone decides how a given matter should properly be resolved," he writes in an e-mail message. "It is inconceivable to me that anyone in the University would attempt to influence the Board's decision in a case, nor would the Board be receptive to it."

Smith, who's been "on and off the Ad Board for sixteen years" says that in his experience, the Ad Board only consults with General Counsel about the course of action it plans to take in a particular case.

"Our questions for General Counsel are most only ones of process, we go to them and say this is what we are planning to do, is this appropriate?' Are we doing what we say we're going to do [in the Handbook for Students]," Smith says.

More Procedure, Less Discipline

Members of Harvard's Administrative Board say that the typical Tuesday afternoon Ad Board meeting doesn't usually have a docket full of particularly sensitive cases--like issues of assault or sexual violence.

"Disciplinary matters represent a rather small percentage of the Administrative Board's business," writes John Gerry, Allston Burr senior tutor of Quincy House, in an e-mail message. "Students are fascinated by the disciplinary' aspect of the Administrative Board but do not recognize that most of what we do is routine and rather mundane."

But while the Ad Board dealt with 2,150 "routine and special petition" cases in 1999-2000--like requests for make-up exams--it also oversaw 136 discipline cases.