After an ineffective appeal to President Ketter Monday, Al Rosenbaum and Terrance Keegan were expelled from the State University of Buffalo Tuesday.
A letter from President Ketter notified the two graduate students of Philosophy that they would "henceforth be denied all privileges as a student or visitor at this University including entry upon, or use of any campus facilities."
In the letter, President Ketter stated that he had reached his decision "after considering all the facts in this case and (after) hearing the arguments on both sides." When contacted by The Spectrum, Dr. Ketter said that he had no further comments since the cases were "personal matters."
Expulsion of the two students followed a hearing last Friday of the Campus Commission on Student Disorder. The Commission, by a 7-0 vote, found Keegan and Rosenbaum guilty of entering Norton Hall in violation of the terms of their suspension.
The two had been suspended for their actions in the student strike last spring. This suspension was to be effective from Nov. 5, 1970 to Jan. 20, 1971.
Both Keegan and Rosenbaum also face civil charges of criminal trespass with penalties of 3 months in jail or $250 fine.
Allegedly Rosenbaum and Keegan entered Norton Hall twice, on Nov. 18 and 19 during the New Nation Week activities. In the case of Mr. Rosenbaum, the terms of his suspension stipulated signing under the threat of losing their jobs unless they cooperated.
When asked if he felt any pressure to sign the affidavits, Mr. Saul Davidson, of the North Union staff, answered that he "did not really feel pressured." Mr. Davidson said that he was "originally hesitant," however that he would "rather not say" why he did decide to sign because "it would bring something up at the trials which could only hurt the defendants."
Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Keegan were arrested over Christmas vacation and received letters Jan. 15 notifying them that their trials would be Jan. 22.
Mr. Rosenbaum claims that this was "inadequate notice. I could not present an adequate defense in that time," he said. "All the witnesses and my lawyers were out of town at this time. The Administration held trial during intersession because no one would be around."
In regard to the possible violation of due process, the Board of Trustees guidelines specify that notifications must be 7-10 days before the trial, that the charges be specified and that the defendant have the opportunity to be heard.
The Commission, which is in cases of physical disruption empowered to recomment penalties, was not given this power for Rosenbaum's trial. According to President Ketter, the Commission can not make recommendations in cases of violation of suspension or expulsion.
Russell Smith, Rosenbaum's counsel, claims that he was "convinced that the Ketter Administration had the expectations that the Commission would come down with a heavy hand on student activists. Yet the Ketter Commission had moved leniently and so Ketter decided to live up to his reputation as a hard line administrator and come down hard, and he was afraid the Commission wouldn't go along with this, so he stripped them of this power."
Monday afternoon, both Keegan and Rosenbaum appealed the "guilty" verdict to President Ketter. Rosenbaum appeared for his appeal at Hayes Hall with a small group of what he termed "concerned people from the university." Only he and one counsel were allowed in to speak to Ketter however.
According to Rosenbaum, President Ketter informed him that "if you demand more counsel, you will be denied privilege of personal appeal." President Ketter had with him two attorneys, Howard Meyer, University Prosecutor, and John Leach, Counsel to the University.
In an interview, Mr. Rosenbaum stated that he primarily objected to the severity of the penalty, which he felt "was disproportionate to the acts committed." Mr. Rosenbaum was a Doctoral candidate who was to receive his PhD in May.
"Besides the violation of my civil rights, my trial will have the much deeper effect of ruining my career," Mr. Rosenbaum said.
The expelled student claims that his civil right of due process was violated in that it was not a trial by a jury of peers and that it was a closed trial.
Mr. Rosenbaum also questions the method of selecting jurors for the Commission, which tried him. The method specified by the Board of Trustees guidelines specifies that President Ketter choose six faculty and six staff who in turn select six students to sit in on the Commission.
"Under this system," Mr. Rosenbaum said, "the man who empanels the jury is the one who signs the complaint and charges, metes out the punishment and hears the appeals."
"There is an unbalanced situation on campus," Rosenbaum also claimed, "in that there is no equal procedure for meting out justice." Maintaining that he was verbally harassed by administrators, he pointed out that there were no channels within the University for him to bring charges against these administrators.
"The whole mechanism is completely loaded and politically motivated," Mr. Rosenbaum claimed. His counsel, Mr. Smith, added that he felt it was an "effort on the part of the administration to wipe out what they take to be the remaining radicals on this campus."
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
