President Hoover Responds to Flag Theft and Desecration
Friday, April 12 2002
(NOTE: Comments can be e-mailed to hoover@uidaho.edu.)^April 12, 2002
President Bob Hoover^I am both saddened and shocked to share the following information with you today.^Kasey Swisher, ASUI president, has tendered his resignation. I surmise that his resignation is associated with the issue of the theft and desecration of the Gay-Straight Alliance flag. As you know, three student senators also were involved.^Here is what we know so far about these events:^On Sunday March 31 at 1:43 AM, three students entered the student activities area of the ASUI offices in the Commons and stole a flag that was the property of the Gay Straight Alliance. All three were ASUI senators. They, along with other students had attended a party earlier that evening. Kasey Swisher was at that party as well.^After taking the flag the three student senators Matt Henman, Kevin Smith, and Joel Sturgill took the flag to the SAE house where Kasey Swisher joined them. It is alleged that they desecrated the GSA flag and disposed of it in a trash dumpster. ^The events from there on are hazy, but apparently Henman eventually contacted the Gay Straight Alliance and indicated he knew who stole the flag. His note was given to Selena Lloyd, the Gay Straight Alliance co-chair. She immediately spoke with Amy Newcomb, coordinator of student activities in the Commons.^Selena also spoke with Val Russo, and Don Lazzarini, resource specialists in the dean of students' office and to Juandalynn Taylor, the interim coordinator of multicultural affairs.^Following these contacts, the Gay Straight Alliance provided the note to the police. Bruce Pitman and Captain Cam Hershaw were briefed about this incident. Selena Lloyd met with the police in Bruce's office.^Matt Henman was interviewed by the MPD later that day. He told the police that he was one of the three people involved in the incident. He also told the police that Kevin Smith and Joel Sturgill were the other two people involved. Henman told police that they took the flag back to the SAE house to burn it on the porch. When the flag would not burn they discarded it in a dumpster. It was Smith's Vandal card that was used to enter the ASUI offices.^On Tuesday April 2, 2002, Smith, Sturgill, and Henmen met with MPD at 2 PM. Smith told the MPD that he and Sturgill went back to the dumpster to get the flag on Monday, April 1. The MPD went with Smith to his house and the police took the burnt flag with them.^Bruce Pitman met with students involved in the incident and told them he would be taking disciplinary action under the student code of conduct. Selena met with Special Assistant to the President Raul Sanchez and Raul's office purchased a new flag for the GSA. On Wednesday, at a campus meeting called to discuss these events, it was announced that the three senators were resigning from ASUI.^On Thursday, yesterday, during the State Board of Education meeting in Idaho Falls, I was informed that Kasey Swisher, ASUI president, would like to meet with me. The indication was that Kasey had knowledge of the flag burning event. I left the meeting early and drove to Boise. I met with Kasey and his parents for a short period of time in the afternoon. Kasey said he was at the SAE house when Henman, Smith, and Sturgill arrived with the flag. He watched them try to burn it and apparently participated with them in that act. He indicated that he was inebriated and did nothing to stop the act at the time, nor did he do anything afterwards and he was quite anguished and embarrassed about his actions. Apparently quite a few people witnessed the flag burning attempt. One young woman may have tried to stop them. While returning home from Boise, I received a call from Kasey. He indicated that the call was to inform me that he was officially resigning as President of the Associated Students of the University of Idaho and that he had sought legal counsel.^Now let me say a few words about these events. First, what the ASUI president and senators did was exceedingly wrong, grossly offensive and will not be tolerated at the University of Idaho. The three former senators and now the former ASUI president are being investigated for breaking the law and university policy, i.e., theft of someone else’s property.^They have intruded offensively into the lives of others, they infringed upon the rights of the Gay Straight Alliance students, they frightened students, faculty and staff on this campus and community, and they soiled the image of ASUI, the University of Idaho, and the State of Idaho.^Moreover, they violated the First Amendment rights of this entire community by presuming to tear down the flag simply because they disagreed with its message. They have violated the trust of the people who elected them – the students, including gay and lesbian students.^In the United States, we hold all elected officials – including students – to a different standard of behavior than others. We expect more from them. They should truly be “leaders” in all areas of student life – including diversity and freedom of speech.^What is next? One thing we as educators always look for is an educational opportunity. On what do we need to focus or learn from this event? We will press forward with a dialogue about the following things: free-speech and its implications, alcohol and students, diversity, tolerance, minority rights, and civility. We will move our students and our university community to examine these fundamental values in a meaningful way. Also, we will need to closely examine what went wrong with ASUI and take actions to alter what we find as the problem. We will continue the investigation—we will work with police department in this regard.^Second, we will begin the succession process based on the ASUI by-laws and constitution.^Third, we will work with the ASUI to re-establish confidence and trust in that organization.^Fourth, we will work with them, other student groups and the university community to, as Professor Rodney Frey said in a prepared statement by the Juntura Committee, “to strive for and embrace the values of respect, tolerance and understanding of one another” or what I would call civility.^Our orientation for ASUI and all groups on campus should more effectively emphasize the importance of this vision, a vision adopted for the University of Idaho. This is something we will be addressing in the days ahead and is something I spoke about to the remaining ASUI members earlier this morning.^Finally, I just finished meeting with members of Gay Straight Alliance, and I can tell you they are angry and frightened and wondering about their place in this community. I assured them, and let me repeat to you, that we fully support their organization and each of them as valued members of our university family.^The University of Idaho has had a specific policy in place prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation since 1996. We cannot and will not tolerate this kind of behavior. It has no place in this community, especially this university, where we are committed to making sure all of our students feel safe and valued and free to express their views.^We have handed the matter over to the Moscow Police Department, and following their investigation, our dean of students Bruce Pitman will take the appropriate disciplinary action. Disciplinary action ranges from a warning to expulsion. Please recall that such sanctions are treated privately according to public laws and policy similar to that associated with grades. If found guilty, they will be dealt with firmly.
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