Third student talks to Reveille about Dean

In the latest of a string of incidents involving the Dean of Students, a student was asked to meet with the associate dean of Judicial Affairs after writing a letter to The Daily Reveille.

Staci Borel, political science junior, was asked to meet with Eric Norman after she wrote an op-ed letter regarding an incident with Residential Life.

"It's ridiculous that students aren't allowed to raise concerns through their writing in the paper," she said.

Borel attended a party thrown by her friends in the East Campus Apartments. The party ended when the group was informed through a Residential Assistant that the Graduate Hall Director was headed over to break up the party. The group left campus before ECA GHD Charles Beard arrived and later held the party at a friend's house.

Upset by the incident, Borel wrote a letter to the editor, published in the Jan. 31 edition of The Daily Reveille.

The letter criticized the Residential Life Association, stating, "I remember a little line in the Constitution which permits Americans the right to assemble. Without Facebook, [Beard] would have never heard the little laptop we had playing music and the ten friends gathered around a birthday cake. Fortunately, thanks to relocating to an off-campus house, the party was a huge success. Hey Charles, check out the Facebook pictures!"

A few days after the letter ran, Borel was asked to attend a meeting with Norman. Norman asked her about the events surrounding the party and her letter to The Daily Reveille. She was told there was an ongoing investigation surrounding the issue, but she would not be charged.

"I feel like it was one-sided. I feel it was more aimed towards my letter than the actual situation I was talking about," Borel said.

Beard initially filed the complaint with Norman's office, saying he felt he had been unfairly defamed by the statements in Borel's letter.

"I filed the complaint as a student because I felt my rights were violated, but I'm not comfortable talking about it until it's resolved," he said.

In a separate incident last fall, Pike Barkerding, a University alumnus and former cartoonist for The Daily Reveille, said he was asked by Norman to sign a confession statement admitting that his Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity had been involved in hazing its pledges. When Barkerding refused, Norman told him he would not be allowed to graduate in the fall semester as planned.

"Soon after I left Norman's office I called my father. He was furious and, after we talked, he immediately began drafting a letter to [Chancellor Sean O'Keefe] informing him of the matter and expressing his freshly committed involvement in the case on my behalf as my father," Barkerding said in a statement to The Daily Reveille. "A day later my father received a message that Chancellor O'Keefe, now aware of the situation, had intervened and reversed Norman's ruling, instructing [Dean of Students K.C. White] to clear me for graduation."

O'Keefe declined to comment because he said the case fell under the purview of the Dean of Students.

In another case previously reported by The Daily Reveille, Patrick Esfeller, disaster science and management junior, faced additional charges from Norman for speaking to The Daily Reveille about his ongoing judicial case.

Esfeller was charged by the Office of the Dean of Students after a verbal altercation with his ex-girlfriend in the Edward Gay Apartments in November 2006. LSUPD did not file any charges and closed the case.

But a few days later, Norman sent Esfeller a charge letter informing him an investigation had been opened.

"No lives were in danger, no physical threats were made and no harm to any property was occurring. It was simply an argument that took place between two people," Esfeller said. "It's not Dean Norman's responsibility to get between two people who are having an argument, unless physical contact or threats to that person's life or property are made."

Esfeller's case is still awaiting a judicial hearing.

Norman declined to comment on any of the cases. He said the Office of Judicial Affairs is restricted by Family Educational Rights, the Privacy Act and the Student Code of Conduct from commenting on both open and closed investigations.

White denied that her office has deliberately singled out students who approach to The Daily Reveille and said there has been no attempt to stifle free speech on campus.

"FERPA is always something we have to uphold. I think students always have the right to be vocal. People have the right and the responsibility to communicate whatever they would chose to communication," she said. "I don't know if there is a sense among some people that we are trying to suppress anyone's ability to communicate, but we don't discourage anyone from using the resources for them to speak out."

White admitted that FERPA hampers her office's ability to set the record straight on cases made public by students.

"We are not going to play out a judicial review in The Daily Reveille," she said. "Because of the way judicial affairs play out, you may not be able to get the rest of the story. We're just not in a position to be able to share a students judicial record."

But Borel disagrees with the office's policy and said she thinks the dean's actions set a dangerous precedent.

"I think it's something that people really need to pay attention to. Who knows when you're going to have an opinion, and you want to voice it?" Borel said. "The things that are happening now are just going to make people scared. It's limiting the voices of students."

----- Contact Sarah Yokubaitis at syokubaitis@lsureveille.com