Charles Jenks

Dear President Cartwright:

I’m really mystified over how David Airhart can be disciplined for climbing a wall he was invited to climb and then unfurling a peace banner. It was in no way an inflammatory message – “Kent, Ohio for Peace” – except to the militaristic. One would hope that the military would be among the first to agree with the message. The recruiters clearly over reacted by going up after him. And the recruiter who grabbed him committed assault and battery, in my opinion.

I am a lawyer of 25 years experience, mostly as a litigator. I can tell you that David did not commit a crime based on the eye witness accounting. He was charged with disorderly conduct, a weak catch all when the police have nothing else on someone. If he had committed any thing of a serious nature, he would have been arrested and charged accordingly.

The recruiter who grabbed him should be charged, and all of the recruiters who went after him should be banned from campus.

They could have, and should have, called the police, if they wanted to preserve their dominion over their little wall. The police would have dutifully informed David that he was trespassing on someone else’s property and would be in violation of a university policy if he didn’t get down (that’s assuming that the university had given permission to the recruiters to erect their climbing wall on campus.) I bet David would have climbed down at that point.

Aside from all of this, this is Kent State for goodness sake. Surely you have a sense of history. Your campus is hallowed ground where 4 students were shot dead in another – albeit much more extreme – display of military arrogance. Yet you allow recruiters on campus to entice your young charges with tales of “the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings on the big rock candy mountain.” Or some such foolishness that is likely to kill them or maim them, if not physically then mentally. Meanwhile, the recruiters boldly represent an institution that discriminates against people based on sexual orientation. Lies and bigotry go hand in hand.

Really. Let’s have some perspective here. Stop the proceedings against David and banish the recruiters.

Sincerely,

Charlie Jenks

Charles Jenks
Chair of Advisory Board and Web Manager
Traprock Peace Center