After being dismissed from the University for giving out inaccurate information to potential employers, a student has issued a public apology upon his return.

The letter was submitted to the editorial department of The Daily Illini for publication and explains his dishonest behavior. It also warns others against making the same mistake.

The letter is a part of the University’s attempt to educate students while honoring the Family Educational Rights Protection Act, which prevents publication of a student’s educational record and bars administrators from discussing it in detail.

“That practice is not necessarily new; it just hasn’t been exercised a lot before,” said Brian Farber, associate dean and executive director of the Office for Student Conflict Resolution.

Farber said that when the student was invited back to the University, a subcommittee felt that the student had learned a lot from the experience.

The subcommittee, to which the student had petitioned to return to the University, then asked the student to write an open letter to other students warning against the consequences of unethical behavior.

“They asked him to write a letter to other students in the community about, don’t be tempted, make sure you’re thinking about the ethics of what it means to be a student at the University of Illinois, and that it’s more important to be ethical than to have a higher GPA,” Farber said.

In the letter, the student states that he “provided false and misleading information regarding my GPA and major in my Symplicity profile.”

Symplicity is an online database to which both students and prospective employers may submit and search. Students using Symplicity are warned against lying, must attend an informational session and agree to provide factual information.

John Malicsi, graduate student, said he has used Symplicity in the past and felt the consequences of dishonesty were clear.

“If you lie, you are going to be removed,” Malicsi said. “(There is a) high risk and the reward is low.”

After the returning student’s offense was discovered, he was dismissed from the University by the Subcommittee on Undergraduate Student Conduct, said Farber. The committee decides on disciplinary measures and is composed of faculty members and students who are appointed by the Faculty-Student Senate’s Committee on Student Discipline.

Farber said the dismissal was not intended to be permanent.

“Students cannot be expelled from the University of Illinois,” Farber said. “It’s a common misconception; once you’re expelled you can never return. Dismissed means that after a period of time you’d be allowed to petition to return to the University.”

This policy is intended to allow dismissed students a second chance.

The decision to publish the letter was made after its contents were reviewed. If the student had wished to keep the letter out of publication, his wishes would have been respected, Farber added.

“In this instance, the student said, ‘No, I really feel like this is important,'” Farber said. “He might not have attached his name to it, but the name is less important than the message.”