Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, has suspended a student after he e-mailed college administrators suggesting that in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, allowing licensed students to carry concealed weapons on campus would prevent or cut short any similar incident at Hamline. Master’s student Troy Scheffler was suspended and ordered to undergo a “mental health evaluation� after the two e-mails he sent to administrators were deemed threatening. Scheffler’s e-mails advocated for the ability to carry concealed weapons on campus, criticized the university’s diversity efforts, and took issue with the academic standards of the university, but they reveal no credible threats of violence.

Scheffler turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonpartisan advocacy group, for help. FIRE wrote to Hamline, pointing out that merely advocating for the ability to carry concealed firearms did not make Scheffler either a threat or a mental health risk. FIRE also pointed out that Scheffler did not receive a hearing, and that mandatory psychological evaluations are an intrusive violation of the right to private conscience. Hamline responded, claiming that others had expressed concerns about Scheffler before the e-mails were sent, but the college has steadfastly refused to tell FIRE or, more importantly, Scheffler who has accused him or of what he has been accused, insisting that it must protect the privacy of the anonymous accusers.

Therefore, thanks to Hamline’s policies and practices, Troy Scheffler has been left with fewer rights (no chance to hear the charges against him, no chance to face his accusers, no opportunity for a hearing, and mandatory psychological evaluation) than criminals in our nation’s court system. The basic rudiments of justice and morality require that Hamline University either tell Scheffler what he is accused of and allow him to defend himself, or admit that there is no basis for the suspension and psychological evaluation. Peacefully advocating for gun rights is simply not a threat or a crime.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Politics, Civil Rights .