On November 8, 2012, my friend and her boyfriend were accused of stealing an IPod Nano that was owned by a college faculty member at their school gym, a crime they did not commit.

When the police came and took the two in for questioning, they grilled her and her boyfriend, separately, and, throughout the whole process, they were not given consistent, if any, evidence that proved them to be the guilty ones. They were even, at one point, given two completely different testimonies of what the police and the academic disciplinary committee saw from the video taken at the scene of the crime. Finally, after an hour, tired and shaken up, he finally agreed to a verbal agreement that the police wrote themselves admitting that he “committed” the crime, an action with which he was told would allow him to leave without this going on his school transcripts. In the end, the police lied to him and he was told after essentially being forced to say the false confession that this would go on not only his, but both their records, an incident that would hurt them in their future endeavors. In the end, she and her boyfriend had to attend a judicial meeting and they were both given a guilty verdict without seeing enough concrete evidence that actually pointed them out as the thieves. In addition to this, in accordance with their punishment:

1. Her boyfriend will both be forced to separately pay double the IPod’s price for a crime they did not commit.

2. They both have to write a letter admitting their “crime” as well as what they would have learned from this disciplinary action, a humiliating punishment that would essentially stop them from ever being allowed to prove their innocence.

3. Along with the letter, she will also be forced to resign from her officer position from her club.

4. Her boyfriend will be suspended for two Quarters.

5. As if to add more hurt, the crime was not even reported in the official university police log.

Please, help my friend right this wrong. If this action goes through, not only will this go on their transcripts, possibly ruining any chances they may get to pursue internships, scholarships, and career options, but this may separate the couple. The boyfriend, hurtful that the school would make such an injustice, is making plans to transfer schools although it is already too late to apply to transfer to most colleges and will, most likely, have to wait till the following year before he can again attend a college. Not only is this hurting them academically, but this may cause them to distrust any higher authority, an act that campus officials should be trying to prevent. If you see this as an injustice, please sign this petition so that we can have a chance to have the university reconsider their verdict and reexamine the evidence for a clearer truth behind the incident. Because if we don’t, then they may never get the justice they rightfully deserve.