On 19^th January 2024, the Ashesi Judicial Council (AJC) ruled on a case of social misconduct, which occurred on 4^th December 2023. The AJC concluded that the student, a member of the Class of 2024, is not guilty of the social misconduct.

Background to the case:

On the dawn of 4^th December, the Janitor reported seeing a student in the Fab Lab building with a box of engineering components and later exiting from one of the offices with a box of items. The security team filed an official report based on the Janitor’s account and submitted it to the Operations Department. This report was shared with the Dean of Students, and the student was called in for questioning and subsequently asked to submit a statement for an AJC hearing.

At the hearing:

The student involved, the Janitor, the security personnel who filed the report and an engineering lab coordinator were all invited to testify before the AJC. At the hearing, the student shared that in the early hours of 4^th December 2023, he/she went to one of the lecture halls in the FabLab to study. He/she decided to take a break from studying and entered the inner room of the Engineering lab, a place inaccessible to students. Once in, he saw a box that contained past student projects and decided to go through to gain a better understanding of the projects. A little while later, he/she entered one of the faculty offices to pick some A4 sheets to continue his/her studies. The Janitor, having arrived at the time, saw the student in the inner room and later leaving the faculty office with a brown envelope. The janitor confronted the student and reported his/her suspicions to the supervisor and security personnel on duty. The student was then marched to the security checkpoint, along with the items in the box and the envelope. The security personnel also shared at the hearing that the student in question had been seen earlier that semester in one of the rooms studying late and had been issued a warning not to be found in the inner room at such hours.

Verdict & Recommendations:

After reviewing statements of the case and deliberating, the AJC concluded that the student is not guilty of the theft allegation he/she was initially charged with because he/she had no intention of leaving with the items found in his/her possession.

Considering the facts surrounding the case and the student being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the student was charged with illegal entry and the sanction deferred to the Dean as defined below in the Ashesi Student’s Handbook.

Unauthorized entry into or presence within enclosed and/or posted University buildings or areas, including student rooms or offices, even when unlocked, is prohibited. Violations could lead to fines and/or sanctions from the Office of Student & Community Affairs in consultation with the Operations Department. (Section 11.1)

Advice to the Ashesi Community:

The AJC would especially like to advise students of the following:

• Some offices are restricted for a reason and students need to respect it.
• Should you need to access any university office or resources, students should ensure that they have received written or verbal approval from the appropriate office.
• If ever in doubt whether a place is accessible to students or not, kindly contact the relevant office either by phone or email to ensure due diligence is done before entry.

We trust that this case will serve as a learning experience for our community. Our code of ethics is central to our mission here at Ashesi: To train a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa; to cultivate within our students the critical thinking skills, concern for others, and the courage it will take to transform a continent. Remember, this mission applies to all, no matter the circumstance.