President Jo Ann Gora was disappointed with the way protesters treated a conservative speaker at Ball State University Wednesday, and she and the university are taking action to address the fallout.
Not only did Gora say she was disappointed with the women who threw pies at speaker David Horowitz, but she was also disappointed with Horowitz himself for the comments he made about her and the university, she said.
Horowitz criticized Gora for disapproving of his presence on campus and not introducing him before his speech Wednesday night.
"I have absolutely no idea why he said either thing," Gora said. "I was disappointed he would make statements that weren't accurate."
Gora said she didn't even know he had been invited to campus until she saw a poster for his speech in the Ball Communication Building, nor did she ever disapprove of his presence.
"I think a university ought to be a place where you invite speakers of all perspectives and all viewpoints and you engage them in dialogue," she said.
Gora said the reactions of Grace Mitchell, Columbia City, and junior Cassandra Reed to Horowitz were entirely inappropriate.
"The whole thing was childish," she said. "If we disagree we should get up and debate instead of acting less mature."
Gora said she was also disappointed someone ordered $230 of pizza in the name of Horowitz from Pizza Hut as a prank. She said Ball State would reimburse Pizza Hut.
"We do not want them (Pizza Hut) to suffer...," she said. "This was a childish prank."
Dave Fried, director of Student Rights and Community Standards, said he had not seen an incident like this in his five years at Ball State.
Fried said police could charge the people responsible for the Pizza Hut order with theft by deception. If students are responsible, the university could punish them for theft or misuse of property, he said.
Although Fried has not studied the case in detail, he said the pie-throwing case could be a violation for disrupting a university event. Charges like disorderly conduct or the threat of physical abuse could be brought against Reed, he said. Because Mitchell is not a student, the university could not charge her with anything, but could ban her from university events and property, Fried said.
In Reed's case, the university will have a meeting with her so she can tell her side of the story. Fried said he would also look over the police reports to see if there are any additional witnesses to interview, he said.
The University Screening Committee of the University Review Board will look at the offense and see if Reed should be suspended. If she should be, the University Review Board, which is comprised of 10 faculty members and 10 students appointed by the University Senate, will look at the incident and decide what action to take, Fried said. A student's past record is an important factor in determining the appropriate punishment, he said, and the entire process usually takes no more than three weeks.
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