CMU attends G-20 hearings, Pitt passes

When several CMU students appeared in court last week for hearings related to the G-20 Summit,… When several CMU students appeared in court last week for hearings related to the G-20 Summit, University administrators accompanied them for support.

But when about 50 arrested Pitt students came before a judge, they saw no University representation.

Pitt decided not to send an official to its students’ G-20 court hearings, saying that the University has no part in students’ defense processes.

“There was no role for the University of Pittsburgh. Thus, no Pitt official attended the hearings,” Pitt spokesman John Fedele wrote in a two-sentence e-mail.

He declined to comment further on the University’s role in the hearings.

Despite having fewer students than Pitt at the court proceedings, a representative from Carnegie Mellon’s Division of Student Affairs attended the students’ hearings Downtown.

CMU spokeswoman Alyssa Mayfield said Carnegie Mellon has a history of supporting students during their hearings, regardless of the university’s position on their cases.

“It is standard procedure for a Carnegie Mellon Student Affairs staff member to provide personal support to students if they are going to court and want the company,” she wrote in an e-mail. “This is not an indication of the university’s opinion on the facts of a case or the judicial process.”

Mayfield did not explain what role the Student Affairs administrators played in students’ trials.

Pitt students accounted for about 50 of the 190 people who were arrested during G-20 demonstrations Sept. 24 and 25. The majority of the G-20 hearings occurred last Wednesday and Friday, with 89 people choosing to perform 50 hours of community service in hopes of having their charges withdrawn.

Eleven people appeared in Pittsburgh Municipal Court yesterday. Five people opted to have their preliminary hearings postponed and perform 50 hours of community service. One person, Greg Maurer, of 3118 Avalon St., had his disorderly conduct charge withdrawn. Four people’s cases were held for court, and one person’s case was postponed for another reason.