I understand that Jamaal McGinty came to you at the Learning Center and apologized for his behavior a few days after the incident. Is that correct?
"He did. The thing was settled. The young man came and said, 'I own this," and I was really impressed he came to us [Shay Newman]."
How low were Jamaal's pants actually below his waist?
"I could see between his legs. I could see his bare legs, not his butt. I could tell you what boxers he was wearing."
I understand there was training in the past advising staff that student clothing could be adjusted if it was a distraction. Did you receive that training?
"Yes. After that training with Lynne [Cox] I went to Chareane [Wimbley-Gouveia] about dress and she told me it can be considered a hostile work environment."
Chareane was on vacation when the incident occurred, so when did she become involved?
"Chareane came over after [the apology] and said it was racial and she was going to, 'take it to task.' At that point she was judging motives of my heart. It was like taking a smoke grenade and yelling fire."
Did a student complain about his pants or did you take it upon yourself to confront him?
"I did. There had been people before complain about that style of dress. I approached him because of the training in the past from Lynne Cox."
Had you ever confronted a student in the past regarding that style of dress?
“I had. Seven or eight white guys have been asked before. It wasn't until it was this man and his color, and the coordinator's color, that anything happened."
Were there any witnesses to the confrontation?
"Yes, a work-study student. He actually said, 'I thought I was going to have to restrain the kid and he was going to start breaking things.' At this point, it wasn't about dress, it was about a disruption."
I understand that you called security for help with the permission of your supervisor. Is that correct?
"Shay came out [of the computer lab] wide-eyed. In six years I had never seen him rattled. The first thing he said was 'call security.' Calling security was the escalation they claimed caused all the problems. Vikki Maurer told me to call them. I didn't suspend him. I couldn't. I turned it over to the powers to be."
Is it true that you were told not to attend the forum held on campus a few days after the incident?
"Shay and I both were told a half hour before the meeting that we were not to attend the meeting by direction of Human Resources."
After that meeting, a campus-wide memo came out from Greg Hamann about tolerance and inclusion. How did you feel about it?
"The funny thing about the message was they were totally intolerant of me."
Greg Hamann suggested that maybe you didn't see eye-to-eye with the school's opinion of the situation. Do you agree?
"It had nothing to do with if I would change. I was the fall guy. I knew the very first meeting I had with HR that they were going to fire me."
Why do say you were the fall guy?
"By letting me go they were afraid the kid would go to the paper and that would appease him."
It's been nine months since the incident. Why come forward now?
"Everyone at the college has heard that I am a racist. I've had people confront me at Walmart. It's on Facebook. I was seeking representation and didn't want to cause complications. The smoke has cleared, things have settled, and it's time to tell the truth. I think the issue is at this point the damage it has done to other students and staff. There have been people that have quit. I've talked to people [at LBCC] for 15 or 20 years and they feel there is no protection. A lot of people have come forward and said, 'We're so sorry, this was so wrong.' So if I can give them a sense of security, I want to do that. I'm not looking for my job back, or to apologize, I just want it to change for the next guy."
No comments:
Post a Comment