Ozzie Harris, associate director of affirmative action and equal opportunity, released the names yesterday of the three people who will join him on the panel to investigate sophomore Brian de Moya's allegations that he was threatened and mistreated by Safety and Security officers Saturday, Jan. 31.
Assistant Provost Sheila Culbert, Anthropology Professor Deborah Nichols and Noah Phillips '00 will join Harris on the fact-finding committee.
Harris said the panel hopes to begin interviewing witnesses today.
"We will try to keep to the schedule that we set out for ourselves, which is to be finished sometime next week," Harris said.
De Moya told The Dartmouth last night he does not intend to meet with the panel. He said he thinks he has already given sufficient information which the committee can use through his official written statement to a Safety and Security investigation.
In the statement, de Moya alleges Safety and Security officers cursed at him and threatened him verbally after coming to his room in French Hall to investigate a noise complaint around midnight that evening.
De Moya said he was in contact with Harris yesterday through a series of BlitzMail messages and told Harris he will not meet with the panel.
"He said they really wanted me to meet with the panel so they could be sure to gather all the facts," de Moya said. "In my opinion, they have all the facts already."
De Moya said Harris gave him permission to read the statements made by the Safety and Security officers involved, and he will do so today.
De Moya told The Dartmouth Monday that he did not want to meet with the panel because he was unsure of its purpose -- which he originally believed would be solely to investigate alleged misconduct on the part of Safety and Security officers.
Harris said last night the panel will "attempt to understand what the facts are as were witnessed by six or seven people."
"Certainly [de Moya's] allegations are serious allegations, and the College should review them and we are," Harris said.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton called for the panel Thursday. In a letter Pelton published in The Dartmouth on Friday, Pelton said he requested that Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson appoint a panel from the College community to investigate the allegations "in order to determine what actually occurred."
Nelson appointed Harris on Thursday to chair the panel. Pelton said he chose Harris because he is well-respected in the College community and has previous experience conducting fact-finding studies.
Harris said he selected the other three members of the panel because of their "ability to keep things in confidence, work on a panel" and their interest in revealing the facts of the alleged incident.
De Moya said he was also assaulted by a Hanover Police officer called to the scene by the Safety and Security officers. De Moya told The Dartmouth last week that he had a bruise on his upper right eye socket from being thrown into a concrete wall by the police officer, as well as cuts and other bruises.
