<p>With the mean-spirited and backstabbing nature of so many young girls, it was utterly refreshing to find such devotion and generosity in Sue.</p>
<p>I have not had that experience with young girls- or old girls for that matter.</p>
<p>Sue confronted the bad mood student (who was standing there) and complained about her attitude and accused her of being racist.</p>
<p>If someone did that to me in my home- what sort of response do you think they would get?
Personally, I think Sue is lucky it didn’t get physical.</p>
<p>& wouldnt someone from West Africa be * African*?</p>
<p>Oh, thanks for all your input. I agree that schools may be cracking down over bullying due to the increased rate of suicides. My eldest daughter was the victim of endless bullying and in 10th grade she began to refuse to go to school. We tried every incentive and engaged a therapist (talk therapy psychiatrist). She attempted suicide at age 16, withdrew from public school, took the GED test and began college early, so I am not without an firm understanding of the consequences (and heartbreak) of bullying. </p>
<p>The reason I included the extra details about my son was to show that college policies can be arbitrary (Frostburg Univ.'s policy was new that semester and harsher than ever before. It was also changed to a less harsh policy the following year. Frostburg told me that it had changed its policy, after we visited it, because it had a reputation as a party school and it wanted to crack down on offenders to try to establish a better reputation. Yet Frostburg violated its own policy that resulted in my son’s suspension by reinstating his roommate the next day in a secret and behind-the scenes move. The policy was that if any drugs or drug accessories with residue were found in a dorm room, anyone who lived in that dorm room was equally guilty since Frostburg could not determine who was telling the truth or lying). I included my son’s ultimate outcome as an example of the autonomy of colleges in that the penalties imposed far outstrip those one would encounter in society in a court of law. Losing full tuition, not to mention credits, is a much greater fine (dollar-wise) than would be imposed in a court of law for possession of a pipe with pot residue. This should not be the case. I think college sanctions should attempt to mirror the laws in place. When they don’t, what can be done. The attorney I hired for the Frostburg incident told me (back then) that there was no legal precedent (for violating its own policy) and she did not want to attempt to set one due to the risk of not receiving her percentage of any settlement. </p>
<p>The suite mate from Sierra Leone is a U.S. citizen but she moved here when she was a girl so she has a pronounced accent, she uses words that are not formal English and her spelling (on Facebook) is poor. This is why she is an African-American and why I do not believe she, or Sue, could have composed that letter.</p>
<p>He was suspended 3 days before the semester ended - he was “caught” several weeks before then and a peer council decided his and his roommate’s fate. The roommate brought the drug into the dorm room since he had a car and was an older guy in the military reserves. The policy at Frostburg for this particular semester (I believe it was Fall 1994) was suspension with loss of all credit. I am not making this up. Indeed I hired Karen Cusenberry - a DC attorney to sue them. Just because the rules are different now, and also were changed once again later on by Frostburg, does not mean that these penalties were not imposed on my son because they were. Because he lost all credit for that Fall semester from the suspension, this meant that Spring semester financial aid would not be forthcoming since a student must maintain a 1.7 GPA in order to qualify for federal/state fin aid - therefore no more college until we/he paid for tuition at either Frostburg or another school. I called UMD and asked what their policy was for a student(s) being “caught” with a pot pipe that tested positive for pot residue & they said they issue a warning for the 1st offense - quite different from Frostburg. I called other universities and they all issued warnings - Frostburg was the ONLY college that suspended students for a 1st offense. Their residence hall policy also stated that (no exceptions) both roommates would be suspended if drugs or drug paraphernalia were discovered in a dorm room. They suspended my son and his roommate but secretly reinstated the roommate (the same day) after he told them he had to undergo random drug screenings for the reserves and therefore would not risk smoking pot. We knew this because my son saw him while moving out and the roommate stated that he was living in a different dorm building and had been reinstated right away. My son also had a friend check on this as well. I also asked the Office of Student Affairs and they said that they could not discuss another student. Anyway, you may be assured that my son went on to the local college, served in the Navy for 5 years and was featured in a newspaper article for being the youngest seabee (CB) to be promoted to the level he attained. He was a master-at-arms in boot camp, and the #1 top of his class at A school in Gulfport, MS. He went to college during his military service and then used his GI bill (that he contributed to) to finish. So, the fate of the roommate is unknown but my son did not turn out to be a drug addict or convict despite his experience at Frostburg. I hired an attorney to sue them for having penalties far harsher than those of a court where ordinary citizens are judged. The attorney would not go forward without some sort of precedent and there were none (back in 1995). This is why I mentioned my son’s case first - then discussed the story of my daughter’s friend. Apparently, a precedent is needed in order for lawyers to file lawsuits against colleges. Otherwise, the lawyer must create one via the lawsuit which is costly and time consuming - most don’t want to take on these cases - I guess. I wanted to know if anyone had ever heard of anyone suing a school and winning and the grounds of the case.</p>