Posted on 12/11/2003 8:21:57 PM PST by StopGlobalWhining
The fallout from controversial Halloween photos posted on the College Republican chair's personal Web site has led one student to announce her withdrawal from the university.
Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Pollock/Nittany Sen. Vicky Cangelosi announced her resignation and intention to withdraw at Tuesday's Senate meeting.
She said she no longer feels safe at the university and that she feels Penn State President Graham Spanier put her in danger by including a link to The fallout from controversial Halloween photos posted on the College Republican chair's personal Web site has led one student to announce her withdrawal from the university.
Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Pollock/Nittany Sen. Vicky Cangelosi announced her resignation and intention to withdraw at Tuesday's Senate meeting.
She said she no longer feels safe at the university and that she feels Penn State President Graham Spanier put her in danger by including a link to Penn State's online student directory in his written public statement about the pictures. As a result, she removed her address from the directory and later decided to withdraw from the university.
Cangelosi was not named in Spanier's statement, which was distributed over the Penn State Newswire. Newswire e-mail announcements always include the directory link at the end.
Cangelosi is one of five USG members who attended former Town Sen. Brian Battaglia's controversial Halloween party.
"Quite honestly, I'm very scared of the situation and how it has escalated," she said.
Cangelosi said she is afraid to sleep in her apartment and has not been attending classes.
The USG Senate voted Tuesday to form a committee of senators to investigate the character of USG members who attended the party. The committee could call for the impeachment of the three senators involved: Cangelosi, East Halls Sen. Matt Ritsko, and South Halls Sen. Andy Banducci.
In a statement that she made about 1:30 yesterday morning, Cangelosi said her parents are afraid for her safety, and they contacted Spanier, who did not respond. They eventually spoke with Art Carter, assistant vice president for student affairs, Cangelosi said.
She said Carter told her parents that Cangelosi was "imagining things."
Carter is out of town until tomorrow and could not be reached for comment.
Matt Midles, who was appointed temporary parliamentarian for the meeting, told Cangelosi that as a gay student, he feels endangered every day.
"I'm glad that you've been given an insight to what the students who have been targeted feel every day," Midles said. "You're being treated the same way that I've been treated my whole life."
Cangelosi told senators that she did not arrive at the Halloween party until after 11 p.m. and was dressed in a pirate costume.
One of the photographs found on Battaglia's Web site (http://botag.net) pictured former USG member Jason Covener dressed as USG Vice President and former Black Caucus Vice President Takkeem Morgan. Covener's face was painted black, and he was wearing a bicycle chain around his neck.
Cangelosi said no one was wearing an "offensive" costume while she was there and that Covener must have already wiped off the blackface by the time she arrived.
Other photographers portrayed an "oversodomized frat pledge," a "sorostitute" and an unidentified white man wearing blue bed sheets with a caption referring to the Ku Klux Klan.
Cangelosi said there is no truth in the statement that Battaglia's Halloween party was racist in theme.
"I condemn all racist actions and hate speech," Cangelosi said. "I very seriously resent any notion that I am a racist."
At Tuesday's meeting, Banducci, who also attended the Halloween party, addressed his fellow senators about the investigation against him and Ritsko.
"I realize the situation that everyone is in at this table," Banducci said. "I caution you to make a judgment, when you are looking at this, based on the people you know. Judge us fairly."
USG governmental relations director Frank Camarota also addressed the Senate at Tuesday's meeting, where he apologized for his delayed reaction.
"Had I known then what I know now of the recourse of those pictures, I would have taken a stronger stance against them," Camarota told senators.
Late Tuesday night, Julia Graham, USG Supreme Court clerk, issued a statement in relation to her attendance at the party, apologizing to those who were offended by the pictures.
"As much as I regret not taking some sort of action at the party, the simple fact is that it is in the past," Graham said. "So instead of belaboring the points of these past events, I would rather focus upon the future, over which we have control."
Graham indicated that this issue would not affect her duties as court clerk.Penn State's online student directory in his written public statement about the pictures. As a result, she removed her address from the directory and later decided to withdraw from the university.
Cangelosi was not named in Spanier's statement, which was distributed over the Penn State Newswire. Newswire e-mail announcements always include the directory link at the end.
Cangelosi is one of five USG members who attended former Town Sen. Brian Battaglia's controversial Halloween party.
"Quite honestly, I'm very scared of the situation and how it has escalated," she said.
Cangelosi said she is afraid to sleep in her apartment and has not been attending classes.
The USG Senate voted Tuesday to form a committee of senators to investigate the character of USG members who attended the party. The committee could call for the impeachment of the three senators involved: Cangelosi, East Halls Sen. Matt Ritsko, and South Halls Sen. Andy Banducci.
In a statement that she made about 1:30 yesterday morning, Cangelosi said her parents are afraid for her safety, and they contacted Spanier, who did not respond. They eventually spoke with Art Carter, assistant vice president for student affairs, Cangelosi said.
She said Carter told her parents that Cangelosi was "imagining things."
Carter is out of town until tomorrow and could not be reached for comment.
Matt Midles, who was appointed temporary parliamentarian for the meeting, told Cangelosi that as a gay student, he feels endangered every day.
"I'm glad that you've been given an insight to what the students who have been targeted feel every day," Midles said. "You're being treated the same way that I've been treated my whole life."
Cangelosi told senators that she did not arrive at the Halloween party until after 11 p.m. and was dressed in a pirate costume.
One of the photographs found on Battaglia's Web site (http://botag.net) pictured former USG member Jason Covener dressed as USG Vice President and former Black Caucus Vice President Takkeem Morgan. Covener's face was painted black, and he was wearing a bicycle chain around his neck.
Cangelosi said no one was wearing an "offensive" costume while she was there and that Covener must have already wiped off the blackface by the time she arrived.
Other photographers portrayed an "oversodomized frat pledge," a "sorostitute" and an unidentified white man wearing blue bed sheets with a caption referring to the Ku Klux Klan.
Cangelosi said there is no truth in the statement that Battaglia's Halloween party was racist in theme.
"I condemn all racist actions and hate speech," Cangelosi said. "I very seriously resent any notion that I am a racist."
At Tuesday's meeting, Banducci, who also attended the Halloween party, addressed his fellow senators about the investigation against him and Ritsko.
"I realize the situation that everyone is in at this table," Banducci said. "I caution you to make a judgment, when you are looking at this, based on the people you know. Judge us fairly."
USG governmental relations director Frank Camarota also addressed the Senate at Tuesday's meeting, where he apologized for his delayed reaction.
"Had I known then what I know now of the recourse of those pictures, I would have taken a stronger stance against them," Camarota told senators.
Late Tuesday night, Julia Graham, USG Supreme Court clerk, issued a statement in relation to her attendance at the party, apologizing to those who were offended by the pictures.
"As much as I regret not taking some sort of action at the party, the simple fact is that it is in the past," Graham said. "So instead of belaboring the points of these past events, I would rather focus upon the future, over which we have control."
Graham indicated that this issue would not affect her duties as court clerk.
She said she no longer feels safe at the university and that she feels Penn State President Graham Spanier put her in danger by including a link to Penn State's online student directory in his written public statement about the pictures. As a result, she removed her address from the directory and later decided to withdraw from the university.
This is an example of the pressure and duress the College Republicans have been subjected to in the days since this story became a daily front-page continuing soap opera of liberal hate speech.
Vicky Cangelosi has every right to be fearful of her safety, as evidenced by the statement of the PSU campus cops and the antagonism that Graham Spanier has directed toward all conservative students at Penn State.
Offended conservatives are laughed at and ridiculed, as in the case of the death threat made by the black student in which the "Penn State police decided that Black Caucus members were voicing opinions but were not disorderly."
See previous story about the CR Halloween party at Web site owner makes apology at post #27 and in the text of the posted article.
If Vicky Cangelosi was to be subjected to an investigation of her character by the USG, then I think the same should happen to convicted bike thief Takeem Morgan. and the same for Graham Spanier. Let's have his character examined by an outside independent organiztion, and let's go back and look a little more closely at his tenure at the University of Nebraska, and even before that.
If it's fair to subject Vicky to such a humiliating experience, then why should Spanier not have to be investigated as well?
Morgan was recently convicted of stealing the bike of a female student. Takeem Morgan happens to be black, and he is who was being made fun of at the party.
In my opinion, he deserved it. Let's have Takeem Morgan's character investigated!
An old Chines proverb has it that it is as bad to take offense as it is to give it.
Gee where have we heard that before? At worst this is a case of overt racism. At minimum, its a case of racial insensitivity on a campus with a history of racial tension.
They should've known better, and now they do. When did respect stop being a central conservative value?
Yeah, those death threats against Ms. Cangelosi really taught her a lesson, didn't they?
Racial intimindation is fine with you as long as the target is a "whitey", right?
Wow! Thanks.
That wasn't the incident I was thinking of, but it sounds worthy of investigation. If Spanier wants to pick on relatively defensive students, he should be willing to under an investigation of his own character.
I would ask all you who have been reading these threads, if you have any information about Graham Spaniers past that may demonstrate hypocrisy, or actions that may call into question his character or ability to lead a university, please post them on FR.
If you are a Pennsylvania resident, a PSU student from anywhere, or the parent of a PSU student, and you have information that may be relevant in a character investigation of Graham Spanier for purposes of a lawsuit, please post it on Free Republic.
Remember Gray Davis!
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