GARDNER-WEBB UNIVERSnY
‘iSe Official Ccmvpus 9{ezvspaper
Friday, April 2,1993, No. 10 Boiling Springs, North Carolina
Harassment Forces Student to
Leave Gardner-Webb
by Greg Carpenter
Managing Editor
Living on a college campus forces people
to encounter life-style other than ones they are
familiar with. Sometimes, when students en
counter alternate life-styles, the result is ha
rassment.
Hate and hostility is how two young men,
who were wrongly accused by one of their
peers of participating in homosexual activity,
say they were treated at Gardner-Webb.
In this incident, a resident advisor re
ported that he wimessed two male residents of
G-W engaged in "illicit relations."
A formal meeting was held by E. Jerome
Scott, Dean of Student Development, to dis
cuss the validity of the report. No charges
were brought against the two men because the
RA had no evidence to support his case.
One of the young men says that he feels
"insulted and shocked" at the allegations. He
goes on to say that he feels he has been slan
dered and that his "character has been de
famed."
As a result of the allegations made by the
RA, which the two say are "ridiculous," one of
the persons involved has moved off campus
Student Dies in
Wreck
Special to The Pilot
A member of the Gardner-Webb family
died in an automobile accident over spring
break.
Araya "Jeek" Chit Keen's van ran off the
road and hit a tree on the way home from
Gastonia where she worked at Gaston Memo
rial Hospital as a registered nurse.
She had just eaten dinner with a fellow
nurse who was going to stay in Gastonia rather
than drive home to Rock Hill because of bad
weather conditions.
The Highway Patrol reported that she
was wearing her seatbelt.
The incident took place on snow-slick
Philadelphia Church Road outside of
Lincolnton at 10:34 p.m.
Jeek Chit Keen, the wife of Bunny Chit
Keen and mother of two, was a student of the
GOAL program at Gardner-Webb.
She resided in the Forest Hill section in
Lincobton with her family. She was a native
of Bangkok, Thailand and moved to the U.S.
Vv'th her husband in 1972.
”Our door was
vandalized by
someone writing
'fag' on it, and we
were called 'queer.'"
and has dropped all of his classes.
Neither of the two are planning on return
ing to Gardner-Webb next semester.
Disciplinary action has taken place against
the reporting RA. The two persons involved
are not happy with the probation the RA re
ceived.
"He doesn't realize [how detrimental] the
accusations he is making are," said one.
Andrew Hopper, the senior RA of the
building in which the two men live, and not the
reporting RA, informed them that charges may
be brought against them prior to the meeting
with Dean ScotL
"Our senior RA told us why everyone
was looking at us funny," said one of the
persons involved. "Our door was vandalized
by someone writing 'fag' on it and we were
called 'queer.' I'm married for God's sake!"
Wayne Johnson, director of residence
life, says that in his three years at Gardner-
Webb, he has had experience with several
cases of harassment due to sexual orientation.
When asked if their are any plans to
educate residents about this issue, Johnson
said that he has met with his RA staff to
heighten awareness and to reinforce what is
prohibited behavior.
He says, "As it seems with this case,
students are sometimes quick to harass on the
basis of rumor."
Gardner-Webb has a well-defined code
of prohibited behavior. Any sexual activity is
prohibited and is listed in the student hand
book as "illicit relations."
Under this code, open house at G-W is
allowed solely on weekends. This is the only
time that members of the opposite sex are
allowed to visit each other in the residence
halls.
"It’s not fair that a gay couple gets unlim
ited visitation and can live together, while I
can visit my girlfriend, in the comfort of our
see HARASSMENT, page 3 ...
Stormy Student Senate
by E.J. Dolce
Staff Writer
Due to the unique circumstances and
sensitive nature of this story, only a brief
overview of the March 23rd Student Senate
meeting is available for this issue of The Pilot.
Last week’s Student Senate meeting began
with an invocation by Mark Dixon. After
ward, the first half of the two hour meeting was
dealt with issues like Student Senate Bill #1
and visitation.
Jill Galloway, Chair of the Senate Visita
tion Committee, reports that 321 out of the 800
surveys (roughly 40%) were returned. Senator
Galloway expressed enthusiasm over receiv
ing such a large return.
The results of the survey shows that an
overwhelming 84.7% of responding students
favored visitation hours from Mon. thru Thurs.
3 p.m. to 10 p.m., Fri.& Sat. noon to midnight,
and Sundays noon to 10 p.m.
Jason Crook, Residence Hall Associa
tion (RHA) President was also present at the
meeting. The RHA, together with the visita
tion committee, used the survey results to
write a formal proposal to Residence Life
Director Wayne Johnson. Mr. Johnson, in
accord with Dean Scott, wrote a letter to RHA
addressing some fears concerning the new
proposal and also questioning the amount of
support increased visitation will find among
the students.
Many senators expressed dissatisfaction
at Mr. Johnson’s letter. Student Senate as a
whole has however, decided to stand resolute
in support of RHA’s proposal and promises to
continue work in spite of what many consid
ered a “runaround response”.
Student Senate Bill #1 also received simi
lar treatment. Faculty members suggested a
student forum to find out if students were in
favor of the bill’s methods of increasing aca
demic standards.
A five minute recess served as the calm
before the storm as the meeting’s second half
erupted into an issue with more angles than a
geometry book. Members of the “Vote None
of the Above” campaign including Jamie Gibbs,
Dave Hawes, Scott Hawkins, Chris and Tammy
Johnson were present to question present and
past senatorial procedures including elections.
see SENATE, page 2...