<p>“I’m sorry, but if this were an attractive blue eyed blond white girl from a rich well known family who just happen to know the girlfriend of a guy who committed murder in her dorm, it would take a lot more than what we know now for her to be in the same situation as Ms. Campbell.”</p>
<p>Wow! If this is a proven fact, why the need for Harvard to “pony up the reason”?</p>
<p>“If it were my kid, we’d be working closely with a good lawyer, and would not be putting my kid’s name in the press. I would not want my kid – whom I’d presume would be innocent – to have their future ruined by being publicly connected with a murder nor would I want everyone digging into her background looking for dirt.”</p>
<p>Well Northstarmom, not everyone has the resources to hire a “good lawyer”. Perhaps the one she has now tried to work with the admin and found no he was getting nowhere. Maybe they have done the calculation of bad press and determined that if she is innocent, this is her only hope of walking across the stage.</p>
<p>She more than likely qualifies for a free or very low cost lawyer from Legal Services, and in Boston, that could mean getting a very good lawyer.</p>
<p>If she is being treated unfairly by Harvard, it would be better for her to walk across the stage late after nonpublicized negotiations involving her lawyer than for her to walk across the stage with her class while having her name forever linked to a person who is charged with drug dealing and murdering someone. </p>
<p>Even if it ends up that she did nothing that should have resulted in her being kicked out of school, the publicity means that anyone who Googles her name will know that she was acquainted with a person charged with drug dealing and murder, and that would cause many potential employers and grad programs to be wary about accepting her.</p>
<p>Frankly, I have a hard time believing her story that she doesn’t know why Harvard kicked her out. I will be interested to see what comes out in the court case.</p>
<p>She already has a lawyer who made the decision to go public. Based on what I have read on the web, she isn’t “acquainted” with the person who was charged. She happens to know his girlfriend. I doubt “many” potential employers and grad programs will hold this against her if she is found not to have been involved. In fact it may work to her advantage as someone who stood up for herself in the face of charges that were unfounded.</p>
<p>Lastly, its pretty clear you may not realize why it’s so important to her and her family that she walk across the stage. She is the first in her family to go to college. The symbolism and pride of her walking across the stage to her family is beyond description. I truly appreciate your attempt to apply logic to the situation, but there is an emotional component that is very real.</p>
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<p>She, not the lawyer, decided to make charges of institutional racism. It was impossible for her to misunderstand that those comments would become a focus of the media coverage.</p>
<p>Had there been a principled case that she was an uninvolved party wrongly linked to the murder, humiliated and denied her triumphal, first-generation, Straight Outta Brooklyn graduation walk, she and the lawyer could have stuck to that theme alone. If the facts bore out her claims it would have ended up as a David vs Goliath victory over the 35 (or is it 18 now) billion dollar juggernaut. At a minimum, a laserlike focus on any lack of cause by the university would have gotten her onto the graduation stage. </p>
<p>That they chose a different course suggests at least two possibilities. One is that she and the lawyer are stupid. The other is that they think Harvard is stupid, misplayed its hand in the worst way, and now can be squeezed for fun and profit. </p>
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<p>The first thing a potential employer will find with a web search is national media coverage of her patently ridiculous charges of racism, against an uber-liberal institution that gave her admission and several years of enormously valuable benefits largely because she was “poor, black and from Brooklyn”. She and the lawyer know that. What’s clear is that she, or Harvard, will suffer a lot of damage by the time her case is resolved; we just don’t know for sure at the moment which one it will be.</p>
<p>This article: [The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: Student Barred From Graduation Was Subject of Prior Disciplinary Inquiry, Individuals Say](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=528283]The”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=528283) really proves Northstarmom’s point that the student is shooting herself in the foot by going public with all of this. There’s no way it would have been written if she had kept herself out of the spotlight.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the article link</p>
<p>“Lastly, its pretty clear you may not realize why it’s so important to her and her family that she walk across the stage. She is the first in her family to go to college. The symbolism and pride of her walking across the stage to her family is beyond description. I truly appreciate your attempt to apply logic to the situation, but there is an emotional component that is very real.”</p>
<p>I understand full well what it means to her family. My husband was the first in his family to graduate from high school. I also had some acquaintances at Harvard who were first gen college grads, and I’ve mentored and taught many such students.</p>
<p>The young woman is in a position to get excellent advice from some of the best minds in the country, including alum and others who would be solidly on her side if it seems that Harvard is being unfair to her. If her case really is strong, she could have gotten lots of help without going public.</p>
<p>I may be proved wrong, but I simply don’t believe her story. I know that colleges tell students why the students are being kicked out. I also know that such decisions aren’t lightly made. I also know that it is extremely hard to get kicked out of Harvard. I’ve seen Harvard give second chances to students who included students who were black and poor. After Harvard admits students, it stands by them in a way that I’ve never seen at any other place in the country.</p>
<p>From the Crimson article. No surprise to me. </p>
<p>When I taught college, one of my students plagiarized. No question about the plagiarism. It was word for word taken from an article on-line. Student was brought before the J school committee that handled plagiarism, and student was suspended for a semester.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that the plagiarism was obvious, student’s mom brought in a lawyer to fight the case. Student also told her classmates that she was being unfairly treated. Privacy issues prevented the school from telling others their side of the story. Student ended up transferring out. I suspect there are alum who are friends of hers who believe she was unfairly treated.</p>
<p>Up to the point of seeing her plagiarism, I thought the student was extremely ethical. I had worked closely with the student in a variety of situations including in connection with a student organization that I served as advisor. If I hadn’t seen the evidence, I, too, might have thought that she was being mistreated by the school.</p>
<p>Crimson article:</p>
<p>"Testimony from three individuals revealed Friday that Chanequa N. Campbell ’09—the student Harvard barred from graduation after a deadly shooting in Kirkland House last week—was the subject of a serious disciplinary investigation by the College in her freshman year. </p>
<p>In 2005, Campbell was brought before the Administrative Board, the College’s chief disciplinary body, for allegedly stealing a blank check, making it out to herself, and redeeming the check for $300, according to the three individuals, who asked that they not be identified because they don’t want their names tied to the story. </p>
<p>It is not clear what, if any, punishment Campbell received at the time of the incident. For their part, several of Campbell’s friends have said that it was unlikely that she would be involved with any criminal activity. </p>
<p>Campbell allegedly stole the check at a party for a campus publication, two of the individuals indicated. Later, the student whose check she allegedly forged noticed that the handwriting was not theirs, and because Campbell had allegedly written the check to herself, the guilty party was easily identified, the individuals said. Campbell was not originally known to the person who had the check stolen, according to two individuals. </p>
<p>Campbell was then reported to the Ad Board, said the individuals, who added that Campbell defended herself after the incident by saying she needed the $300 for dental work. "</p>
<p>I agree with Northstarmom and just<em>forget</em>me that Campbell’s decision to go public seems to have made her worse off, leaving her exposed to "people want to put her in this archetype role of somebody who’s from the ghetto,” as one of her friends said. But since are so willing to assume that Harvard knows something we do not, we should also afford the same benefit of the doubt to Campbell’s lawyer. He might have access to information that makes the strategy of going public a good one.</p>
<p>We also cannot discount the emotional value Campbell places on participating in the commencement ceremony. Perhaps, against the counsel of her lawyer, she decided it would be best to garner public support for her case to pressure the Ad Board to reconsider its decision. That strategy – if it was indeed her strategy – doesn’t seem to have worked, but that doesn’t mean Campbell deserves to be characterized as stupid, siserune. Faced with a situation of such personal import, I can see why she might engage in some “wishful thinking.”</p>
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<p>I don’t understand why you are making the charges of racism the central issue, here. There are many “uber-liberal” organizations, especially ones working in the field of race relations, that would love to hire a Harvard sociology major who’s not afraid of controversy (assuming, of course, she’s innocent). I can even think of some graduate sociology programmes that might be sympathetic to her cause (the New School, LSE, the University of Toronto). The real issue at hand is that she’s now publicly associated with a crime.</p>
<p>And from a black news site:</p>
<p>"On an otherwise quiet campus, this violent drug-related crime and the alleged student involvement has publically bared what many at the college have been aware of for years:</p>
<p>“Everyone’s like, ‘What was this random guy doing on campus?’ It’s because Harvard students are buying drugs,” says a recent graduate, who requested anonymity. “There are people on campus who are supporting this operation.”</p>
<p>According to this graduate and others, Campbell was long rumored to be a part of that scene.</p>
<p>“It was something that was whispered about on campus months before the shooting — that she sold cocaine, ecstasy, hard drugs,” says the source."</p>
<p>[Black</a> Students Subject Of Rumors, Profiling In Recent Harvard Murder | NewsOne](<a href=“http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/black-students-subject-of-rumors-profiling-in-recent-harvard-murder/]Black”>http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/black-students-subject-of-rumors-profiling-in-recent-harvard-murder/)</p>
<p>Campbell admits being a friend of the accused murderer’s longtime girlfriend, a Harvard senior who is from Harlem. However, Campbell denies knowing the accused murderer. Hard for me to imagine that is true given her friendship with his girlfriend and the fact that all were from New York.</p>
<p>"We also cannot discount the emotional value Campbell places on participating in the commencement ceremony. Perhaps, against the counsel of her lawyer, she decided it would be best to garner public support for her case to pressure the Ad Board to reconsider its decision. That strategy – if it was indeed her strategy – doesn’t seem to have worked, but that doesn’t mean Campbell deserves to be characterized as stupid, siserune. Faced with a situation of such personal import, I can see why she might engage in some “wishful thinking.”</p>
<p>There’s always the possibility that she knows full well why Harvard kicked her out, and she knows Harvard’s reasons were valid, but she doesn’t want her parents and others to know those reasons. Her family may be wrongly assuming that she’s innocent and is being mistreated, and they may have gotten the lawyer and encouraged her to go public. It may have been hard for her to refuse these things without telling her family the truth. After all, privacy laws would prevent Harvard’s telling her family what’s going on unless the student gives permission for Harvard to do so, and if she has been lying to her family, she’s not going to give that permission.</p>
<p>Thus far, I haven’t seen black students and alum supporting her nor have I seen other students supporting her, which adds to my belief that Harvard’s administration and student body know lots of things about her that the public doesn’t know…yet.</p>
<p>Northstarmom:
“Thus far, I haven’t seen black students and alum supporting her nor have I seen other students supporting her, which adds to my belief that Harvard’s administration and student body know lots of things about her that the public doesn’t know…yet.”</p>
<p>As a recent black alum who is still very connected to the undergraduate community, I can say: You’ve hit the nail 100% on the head.</p>
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<p>Often, the family of an accused comes to understand that certain things said publicly could complicate a case, even if they aren’t false. The lawyer would have explained this to the family, and the family, wanting the best for their daughter, likely would have understood. But let’s entertain the possibility that the family wasn’t convinced: even then, all Campbell would have had to say was “the lawyer told me that going public, or even getting the Ad Board to correspond with you, could complicate my case,” and she would have effectively deflected the pressure from her family. All this leads me to believe that the pressure to go public came directly and only from her.</p>
<p>Also, we don’t even know whether or not Campbell has given permission for family to receive correspondence from the Ad Board. They could know the full story, satisfied that their daughter is innocent.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, what you said is indeed a possibility, but without knowing the details of the case or Ms. Campbell herself, it’s impossible to say whether it’s the most likely possibility. I haven’t read anything myself that would lead me to choose one possibility over another, and I’m not about to use the silence of Harvard’s black community (which, in the interest of full disclosure, I am about to join) or rumours from students as proxies for innocence or guilt. That’s all I have to say.</p>
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<p>I happily discount it. People miss graduation ceremonies for all sorts of reasons. And at Harvard there is no dramatic walk across the big stage in the Yard, nor a handshake from the president. There are lesser walks in the houses (dorms) that may or may not be as elaborate as the graduation at the elite prep school she attended in Brooklyn Heights. </p>
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<p>Actually I suggested two opposite possibilities: one is that that she and her lawyer are stupid for holding that press conference, and the other is that they have reason to believe that they have Harvard over a barrel. If I had to bet it would be on the first option, but the second is also a possibility until it is revealed what Harvard administrators knew, and when they knew it. </p>
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<p>She made it central. I am citing her having done so, as evidence against the theory that all she really wants is to participate in a graduation.</p>
<p>"Actually I suggested two opposite possibilities: one is that that she and her lawyer are stupid for holding that press conference, and the other is that they have reason to believe that they have Harvard over a barrel. If I had to bet it would be on the first option, but the second is also a possibility until it is revealed what Harvard administrators knew, and when they knew it. "</p>
<p>I’m with you in thinking the first is the most likely possibility.</p>
<p>I also looked up info on her lawyer. He’s a graduate of Northeastern’s law school. He’s unlikely to have inside info on Harvard or to understand how Harvard works, so may have taken the case and believed his client’s story about not knowing why Harvard kicked her out. From my standpoint as an alum, I think what she said is extremely unlikely. I also know that Harvard doesn’t kick students out for trivial reasons, and when Harvard kicks students out, it tends to be willing to readmit them later after the students have gotten their lives back together. </p>
<p>Given the amount of journalists who now are digging into Campbell’s background, I suspect that more and more info will be revealed that will indicate that she got kicked out for good reason. I will be surprised if this info comes out as a result of leaks from Harvard’s administration, though. I anticipate the leaks will come from classmates who get fed up watching her drag Harvard through the mud when she’s really at fault.</p>
<p>If you Google, you’ll find out the story about her allegations about Harvard has been picked up by media all over the world. If she’s lying, classmates who know her will go to the media with the truth, something that the Crimson story about her being previously brought up on theft charges already seems to have started happening.</p>
<p>“Let’s assume for a moment she is innocent; she is putting her name in the press so Harvard will allow her to participate in graduation ceremonies.”</p>
<p>Boy, is that a miscalculation. Whether Harvard is right or wrong in this case, they are the 800-pound gorilla to end all 800-pound gorillas. Trying to use the press to force an 800-pound gorilla to do your bidding is usually a terrible idea. Suppose that Harvard responded by letting her “walk” in graduation. There’s every reason to worry that the student would hold another press conference crowing that Harvard was admitting guilt and that this was proof it had suspended her due to her race. This kind of thing is only going to make them dig in their heels more firmly.</p>
<p>As for future employers, they really might hold it against her, even if her name is cleared. No company wants to be associated with any sort of scandal. Again, maybe they’re wrong to do that, but that’s what happens. And now with the check-forging story on the web forever…if this were my kid, I’d be in hysterics. She needs to worry about her life ten years from now, not what’s going to happen in Harvard Yard on Thursday.</p>
<p>By the way, it is common at Harvard to walk in a year when you didn’t actually graduate. It’s typically done because someone who took 5 years to graduate wants to go through the ceremony with their close friends. But it can also be done because the student missed their official graduation for some reason. Of course everyone wants to walk with their freshman roommates, but this is definitely not the only chance for her family to watch her graduate.</p>
<p>FWIW, I’ve heard Georgetown Law School is the place to go after your reputation at Harvard has been dragged through the mud.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, would Campbell’s lawyer, even if hired after the decision, be allowed to see Harvard’s decision and the evidence?</p>
<p>I imagine that the decision can be seen by anyone to whom Campbell chooses to show the decision. It’s hard for me to imagine that Harvard didn’t give her a copy of the decision in writing. That was the policy at the school where I taught. </p>
<p>I imagine that if Campbell sues, Harvard would have to show its copy of the decision. I don’t know if it would have to respond to simply a request from her lawyer.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the police who have the evidence about Campbell and why she was kicked off campus.</p>