MORGANTOWN - The faculty overwhelmingly defeated another motion that had recommended any faculty member who threatens or intimidates a university employee, board member or other state executive be disciplined or dismissed immediately.
The motion, offered by professor Dallas Branch and rejected 527-23, stemmed from two fliers found in the engineering building last week that used the word "kill.'' The composition and font size were crafted carefully to avoid qualifying as a direct threat, and State Police said last week they did not consider the language criminal.
From a distance it reads, "Kill Joe Manchin,'' although when read closer, does not advocate killing the governor -- just his candidacy for re-election.
But campus Police Chief Bob Roberts said last week he found the language disturbing, as did Branch.
"Faculty colleagues, this is unacceptable. It may be seen as a joke to some,'' Branch said. But after the mass murder at Virginia Tech last year, "Something like this cannot be taken as a joke.''
Two professors opposed the language of the motion as overly broad and warned it could have discourage free speech on campus.
This article is condensed version of a larger Associated Press article found in the May 14 edition of The Charleston Daily Mail. To read that article in its entirety, click here. Also, for more information on what lead to the resolution, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment