ucsd is required to investigate and adjudicate sexual assault complaints of students most schools don'tdn't know what to expect. i thought it would be fair. >> reporter: the student says it wasn't fair. he was allowed to bring a lawyer but the lawyer couldn't speak and could only submit questions for the accuser in writing. >> we had a set of questions, 32 total, handed to the hearing officer, and then she started to skip questions and started to say, well, i'll not going to ask that. she wouldn't say why. >> had you ever seen anything like that before in a court hearing? >> no. it just doesn't happen. >> reporter: that's because, unlike court hearings, individual universities make up their own rules for the disciplinary tribunals the department of education requires the process be prompt, thorough, impartial. the university becomes prosecutor, jury, and judge. >> i tried to object a few times and they reminded me it was just a school hearing, and it wasn't criminal, so i wasn't allowed to do that. >> reporter: in campus hearings guilt has a lower bar. it's not beyond a reasonable doubt