Civilizing University Discipline

It is the purpose of this Article to suggest that the criminal model is not the only possible system of university discipline. There are alternatives to be found in the operation of the civil courts and other administrative agencies that have received little consideration. It is a common, but mistaken, assumption that the proper way to deal with offensive conduct is by means of social punishment. The unfortunate consequences of a general tendency of legislatures to “overcriminalize” have been noted elsewhere. The trend in university discipline may be regarded as a special application of that tendency, or, at least, as a related phenomenon.