Chapter 12: Trials and Tribulations

January, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

Tuesday was my first day back to work at Nuvatec since the Fall semester ended, but it was going to be a short one. Scott and I had to leave the office about 1:30pm to go to IIT to participate in Charlie's disciplinary hearing. We arrived just before it started, and I took my place in the chairs reserved for character witnesses. Dean Stauffer began by reading Charlie's confession, then read the IIT rules about cheating, and then the procedure for the disciplinary hearing.

"Miss Johnson, would you like to make a statement or add anything additional to what I've just read?"

Charlie nodded, stood up, and walked to the lectern. She started with a repeat of her confession, and then spoke about going to Doctor Bauer and reporting the times, dates, and people that she knew were involved. She ended with an apology that sounded quite heartfelt, thanked the Dean and the Committee and sat back down.

"Doctor Bauer, do you have anything to add?"

Doctor Bauer went to the lectern and confirmed Charlie's story, emphasizing that she had assisted with the investigation. One of the panel, a uniformed instructor of Naval Sciences, interrupted Doctor Bauer.

"Doctor Bauer, she didn't come forward until AFTER she'd been accused, is that correct?" he asked.

"Yes, Commander, that's correct."

Doctor Bauer continued, saying that Charlie's help was instrumental in building the case against Callie Shepherd, and that there were no signs that she had cheated on anything other than her differential equations mid-term. There were no further questions, so he went back to his seat.

"Miss Johnson, you have the right to call as many character witnesses as you wish. Do you have any?"

"Steve Adams is here to speak on my behalf," she said.

"Mr. Adams, please come to the lectern," Dean Stauffer instructed me.

I got up and went to the lectern. I'd thought about making note cards, but I was afraid that I wouldn't sound heartfelt and I might sound overly rehearsed. I'd gone over the outline of what I wanted to say, but not the specifics. I felt pretty good, but I had no idea how the hearing would play out. Melanie had given me some guidance, relayed from one of her professors, on dealing with juries and I was going to try to put that to some use.

"Good afternoon. I'm here to speak on behalf of my very good friend and teammate, Charlie Johnson. I will start off admitting something that is public knowledge, and that is that for several months, ending about a year ago, Charlie and I dated casually. We were never what you would call steady, and we stopped dating amicably. I would note that this ended before the timeframe covered by the investigation."

"Mr. Adams," Doctor Jarret interrupted, "Were you and Miss Johnson intimate?"

"Doctor Jarret, as I said to you in December, that's not relevant to me speaking for her, nor is it something I care to discuss. If you would like an answer to that question one way or another, you could ask Charlie directly. She's sitting right there, and whatever answer she gives is certain to be the truth."

"Doctor Jarret," Doctor Clifton, a female professor from the Chemistry department, said, "I do not think you want to ask that question of the young woman appearing before us. It has no bearing on this hearing. None."

She had neatly done my work for me. I'd deflected his question, but he was put in place by another member, which was what Melanie had hoped would happen. I took that as a good sign. I only needed half the members on my side, and I was sure I'd just put one squarely in my camp. Doctor Jarret nodded, and didn't look upset, so I might not even have lost him.

"Continue, Mr. Adams," Dean Stauffer directed.

"I think the simplest way to express my thoughts are to say that I became aware of Charlie's involvement in this situation, and despite it, I was confident enough to allow her to keep her place on my team in Professor Bannerman's class and for her to give an important part of our final presentation. To me, she had made a mistake. A big one, mind you, and one that deserves some action on the part of the University, but not one that should ruin her life.

"I could, if necessary, present a dozen other students who would testify to what I've just said, but I think the fact that Charlie received an A in Professor Bannerman's class should be sufficient. He's here to verify that, if required. When I heard that Charlie went straight from our presentation to Doctor Bauer's office to confess, I felt my faith in her was justified. When I heard that she had agreed to give evidence against one of the perpetrators, I was sure of it."

"Mr. Adams," Doctor Clifton asked, "Did you ask or encourage her to go see Doctor Bauer?"

"No. I didn't," I said.

"Mr. Adams," Doctor Jarret said, "Are you aware that you were named as one of the actual perpetrators?"

I chuckled, which was what Melanie had suggested if this was raised, "Of course. Just as Callie Shepherd threatened, she would do in front of several witnesses. I believe you have statements to that effect. I'm sure she also said that I was trying to coerce her into having sex with me by threatening to frame her for this scandal. You have an unsolicited statement from a University of Chicago student who witnessed that situation. I believe you also have a copy of a threatening note she left for Bert Townsend, as well as his testimony that she blackmailed him by holding a rape claim over his head."

"Mr. Adams," Doctor Sawyer from the physics department, asked, "Did anyone, involved or not, make any promises to you in exchange for your testimony?"

Now it was time to do something else Melanie said — admit my mistakes and how I had voluntarily withdrawn my nomination for valedictorian. She felt this would sway the members to give credence to my testimony.

"No. Not at all. I did make a mistake in kissing Callie Shepherd, even though I knew she was accused. Because of that, I voluntarily withdrew my name from consideration for valedictorian. The accusations from Callie made it clear to me that I'd done the right thing, because I don't want to embarrass the University. So I guess, in the end, I'm paying a price for testifying for Charlie, not receiving anything for doing so."

"What do you think the punishment should be?" Jerry Vaughn, a graduate student on the Committee asked.

He had neatly teed up a softball question for me. I was reasonably certain that someone, though I couldn't be sure who, had put him up to asking the question.

"If it was up to me, I'd say that she's paid the price. She failed the class and is on academic probation. She had been a top contender for an internship at Nuvatec and she can no longer be considered for it because of that. I'd say that's a heavy enough price to pay. A suspension, or worse, an expulsion, would serve no purpose. Charlie is an excellent student who made a tremendous mistake, but she's confessed and asked for forgiveness. That comes with a price, and I think the price she's paid is sufficient. It sends a signal that honesty and integrity, even after the fact, are valued by IIT. And, it will encourage other students to come forward and confess, and give evidence, knowing that a confession will not destroy their academic careers."

"Does anyone else have any questions?" Dean Stauffer asked.

Nobody did, so he asked me to sit down.

"Dean Stauffer, I don't think we need to deliberate on this," Doctor Clifton said. "I believe if you poll the members, we'll have unanimity on loss of credit and academic probation."

"Does anyone wish to go into closed session for discussion? If so, that is your right."

I looked directly at Doctor Jarret, who was the only one I had questions about, and watched as he shook his head when Dean Stauffer looked at him. Dean Stauffer asked for unanimous consent and a minute later, Charlie was awarded no additional punishment for her involvement.

"Miss Johnson," Dean Stauffer said. "From this point forward, there will be zero tolerance. The slightest hint of impropriety on your part will result in swift action on the part of the Administration. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Dean Stauffer," she replied. "I understand. Thank you. And thanks to all the members."

"One last item, Mr. Adams," Dean Stauffer said, "I need you to appear tomorrow at 2:30pm for Miss Shepherd's hearing. I will need you to repeat your denials of her accusations."

"I'll be here," I said.

When we left the hearing room, Charlie came over to me and hugged me.

"Thanks, Steve. You were amazing!"

"All I did was tell the truth. I'd take you on any team I had any time. Just make sure you keep your nose clean!"

"I will."

"How did it go with your parents?" I asked.

"I thought that they were going to kill me. But now that I can tell them that it's just one F, it'll help," she said. "I heard a bunch of bad stuff happened to you over the holidays."

"Not to me, but to Wen, Bethany, and my friend Jennifer from Stanford."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Charlie said. "I'll see you Saturday!"

"I'll be in Ohio with Bethany pretty much every weekend for a couple of months, I think. Elyse and Kara will take care of everything on the weekends."

"How is Bethany?"

"About like you would expect," I said. "But she's alive, and that's what matters."

"Tomorrow will be interesting," Charlie observed.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I want her to look me in the eye and make those accusations."

"She will, you know. Vehemently. It's her only out."

"No, it's not. All she has to do is give up the names of the grad students who stole the tests. If she did that, I bet she could get off with a suspension. Maybe not, but Doctor Bauer would surely push for that because he really, really wants to know which of his grad student TA's sold out the department."

"Can't they figure it out?"

"There are six or seven, but there's no clear evidence pointing to anyone. Bert identified the senior who was working with Callie, but I'm not sure what's going on with him. I don't think that he's given up any names, though, because if he had, I would probably have heard."

Charlie hugged me again, and I headed home. I went to my study and dialed Doctor Barton's number from the card he'd given me. A young woman answered and asked me to hold while she checked if he could take my call.

"Mr. Adams," he said, coming on the line, "I missed you before you left."

"I apologize, Doctor Barton, but it was hectic, because I had friends in from out of town. I visited Bethany on New Year's Day and assumed that you weren't in your office."

"You assumed correctly. I assume that Miss Wilton said that I'd mentioned it."

"She did. What can I do for you?"

"I had just wanted to talk to you, that's all. You're an interesting young man, and even though you rebuffed my overtures about a medical career, I keep my eye out for promising students in any discipline. I've learned over the years that you can't have too many friends, and you never know when you might need a computer scientist, or an historian, or God knows what. I understand from the Krajicks that you're visiting Bethany every weekend?"

"Yes, that's true. As I said, she's been my best friend since ninth grade."

"But not your fiancé," he chuckled.

"No. I think you know that her mom put that on the form to ensure I could see her at any time."

"Yes. It did cause Miss Wilton a bit of heartburn until she understood what was going on."

"She's an interesting character," I chuckled.

"She's my best student. She's also very much like me. All I can say is God help you!" he laughed.

"Should I be afraid?"

"Only if you stand in the way of anything she wants. She's damned good. We'll see in a couple of years if her fingers are as nimble as her mind. If they are, she'll write her own ticket. Good trauma surgeons are hard to find. Female ones are, for all intents and purposes, impossible to find."

"So are doctors that don't think that they're gods!" I teased.

He laughed, "I knew I liked you. I told you I was always honest. And brutally so. If I don't know, I don't know. I do have a question for you, though."

"Sure."

"This is kind of delicate, and, to be honest, it's the question I wanted to ask when I saw you. Did Bethany talk about something supernatural?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"I wondered. When we got her heart beating, despite being in a coma, she said, 'I'll go back. I will'."

I was stunned. I wasn't sure what that meant.

"She told me she saw a girlfriend of mine who died about seven years ago. And that this girl, Birgit, told her to come back to me."

"I've only seen this once before, and it was someone who had equally severe wounds. Somehow, something happened that made them fight. Made them come back. Steve, I'll give it to you straight, she should have died at least twice. I can't explain why she didn't."

"Because she didn't want to," I replied firmly.

"I'd say that's as good an explanation as any. Thanks for sharing that with me. And good luck with Miss Wilton on Friday night. She really likes pizza!"

"I'm not even going to ask how you know! Thanks, Doctor Barton."

"You're welcome. Call me from time to time and let me know how you're doing. If you're ever in Indianapolis, I'll buy you a Coke."

"A Coke?"

"Given what I do, even a beer on Sunday afternoon during the game can mean not being able to operate on someone who needs me. I never, ever drink. Ever."

"That makes perfect sense."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I sat and stared at the phone for a few minutes, then fired up the computer and wrote in my journal. I'd more or less dismissed what Bethany had said, and while I didn't believe in the afterlife, per se, something had happened to Bethany. Something very, very important. I had never written about my two dreams, but now I did, trying to make sense of everything. Several pages later, I was just as confused about it as I had been when I started writing.

After I finished with my journal, I took the rest of the afternoon to start working on my first paper for my world religions class. After dinner, I started on the first computer assignment for the compiler class, even though it wasn't due for a couple of weeks.

Wednesday seemed to fly by and at 2:30pm I was sitting in the room where the Disciplinary Committee was meeting, waiting for Callie's hearing to start. She arrived a few minutes after I did, with a very sharply dressed man with a leather briefcase. I immediately pegged him as a lawyer, and he sat just to Callie's right. Five minutes later, the hearing was called to order.

Dean Stauffer went through the same procedure as he had the previous day, though instead of a confession, he read the list of charges against Callie and indicated that she denied all of them. He asked her about the man sitting to her right.

"This is my attorney, Mr. Littleton," she said.

"I'll remind you that this is not a legal proceeding. He may advise you, but he has no right to speak."

"Excuse me, Dean Stauffer," the attorney said, "but if you are contemplating expulsion, my client has legal rights."

The attorney representing the school spoke up, "Mr. Littleton, that is true. Once the committee makes its determination and recommends punishment, you may appeal to the Chancellor. If that fails, then you are free to proceed in civil court. Miss Shepherd agreed to this process in her application to the school, and it is clearly described in the materials provided to her when she was accepted to the school, and each semester when she registered."

"I object to these proceedings as a violation of my client's rights," he said.

"So noted, Mr. Littleton. If your client does not wish to speak, that is her right. If she does not wish to be here, that is also her right. Miss Shepherd, you've heard the charges. Do you wish to speak?"