2008 Woodie Awards
LETTER: Labels based on misconceptions can ruin lives
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Opinion
Originally published: 2/14/08 at 7:14 PM EST
Last update: 2/14/08 at 7:12 PM EST
I am Derek Stroh's mother. Today he was suspended from your campus for two years. While an application for re-admission is possible in the future, this letter is not about college regulations. It is about perception and assumption, and the derailment of a person's life when those two behaviors misfire.
My son had no intention of causing harm, and was not enroute back to campus with a "weapons stash," or wearing a paramilitary uniform. Derek's mistake was not leaving his sword, knife, and firearm collection at his father's house -- the rounds of visits to his hometown friends during college break were conducted to share the same hobby, and Derek is now paying the price for this mistake by having his education derailed and possibly his professional future destroyed.
All material in the trunk of Derek's car was legal except for a modified shotgun -- something hundreds of farmers and others in our home county possess. As those individuals will not be arrested and accused of having a "weapons stash," and as they also have legal collections of heirloom shotguns, rifles, and military swords.
For me this issue is now about lies, and was never about facts. The campus community decided Derek was the same prototype, shadowy figure that shot up the Virginia Tech campus. Derek became a clone of all the caricatures of mentally ill individuals who simmer in silent rage for years and then kill people in shopping malls, schools, and post offices. That this image of Derek is what so many of you wish to accept and even eagerly believe -- you believe it because it is the easy thing to believe -- is not something I can change. Nor will I attempt to change it.
There is the core difference between stupidity -- doing a massively stupid thing that mandates a penalty -- and a deliberate criminal act that intends to harm others. Being eccentric, odd, different, interested in "strange" hobbies, or merely being outside the more extroverted social circles of a campus or any other group, is not a crime. Making a stupid mistake is not a crime, although the mistake itself can be. Being arrested and accused of a crime is still not a conviction, and before anything occurred to determine Derek's guilt or innocence, the university swept him through a hearing and appeals hearing within 24 hours, and then told him to leave the campus immediately.
My son had no intention of causing harm, and was not enroute back to campus with a "weapons stash," or wearing a paramilitary uniform. Derek's mistake was not leaving his sword, knife, and firearm collection at his father's house -- the rounds of visits to his hometown friends during college break were conducted to share the same hobby, and Derek is now paying the price for this mistake by having his education derailed and possibly his professional future destroyed.
All material in the trunk of Derek's car was legal except for a modified shotgun -- something hundreds of farmers and others in our home county possess. As those individuals will not be arrested and accused of having a "weapons stash," and as they also have legal collections of heirloom shotguns, rifles, and military swords.
For me this issue is now about lies, and was never about facts. The campus community decided Derek was the same prototype, shadowy figure that shot up the Virginia Tech campus. Derek became a clone of all the caricatures of mentally ill individuals who simmer in silent rage for years and then kill people in shopping malls, schools, and post offices. That this image of Derek is what so many of you wish to accept and even eagerly believe -- you believe it because it is the easy thing to believe -- is not something I can change. Nor will I attempt to change it.
There is the core difference between stupidity -- doing a massively stupid thing that mandates a penalty -- and a deliberate criminal act that intends to harm others. Being eccentric, odd, different, interested in "strange" hobbies, or merely being outside the more extroverted social circles of a campus or any other group, is not a crime. Making a stupid mistake is not a crime, although the mistake itself can be. Being arrested and accused of a crime is still not a conviction, and before anything occurred to determine Derek's guilt or innocence, the university swept him through a hearing and appeals hearing within 24 hours, and then told him to leave the campus immediately.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Andy Frank
posted 2/18/08 @ 11:43 AM EST
This is just another vesion of "Big brother is watching you". Educational institutions such as SUNY Plattsburgh need to stay out of a students private life. (Continued…)
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