Reporter Still Faces Charge, Editor Cleared by Judicial Affairs
November 6, 2009 • By The Breeze,
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HARRISONBURG — While editor-in-chief of The Breeze Tim Chapman was cleared Thursday of all three charges he faced during a Judicial Affairs meeting, contributing news writer Katie Hibson still faces at least one charge.
On Oct. 22, Judicial Affairs charged the two with trespassing, disorderly conduct and noncompliance with an official request. Chapman and Hibson, accompanied by a resident, entered Hillside Hall on Oct. 18 to report on a trespassing incident from the previous day following a “Timely Notice” e-mail. The e-mail was sent to the campus after an unidentified black male opened shower curtains while women were showering in a hall bathroom on Oct. 17.
“I’m pleased with the outcome of my case,” Chapman said, adding he maintained his innocence all along.
Chapman and Hibson met separately with Greg Meyer, assistant director of Judicial Affairs. Chapman said he was impressed with how objective Meyer was during his session.
“It was a great hearing,” Chapman said. “He listened to me, I listened to him and I think we came to the right decision.”
Hibson, who was charged with two counts of trespassing, could not say which of her charges remains. When she first received the assignment early Oct. 18, she said a Hillside Hall resident at the door had invited her into the dorm. Hibson said a resident adviser then asked her to leave and escorted her out of the building.
Hibson said she has to decide by Friday afternoon whether to appeal the charges.
Check Monday’s issue of The Breeze for more on this story.
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See Breeze, the administration actually listened. Was it actually a case of Constitutional Rights? Possibly, but that may be stretching it. Was it a case of JMU following up where a reporter broke the rules in an ironic way? Well, the fact that one charge still stands speaks to that.
If it is the case that Tim Chapman did go to assert Katie Hibson’s rights (through the same style of listening conversation mentioned above) he was within his grounds as Hibson’s boss to look out for the well- being of his staff.
I don’t believe it was the administrations intent to abridge free speech. At the end of the day the Breeze is still a student organization - albeit in a very different form than most - the same standards still apply.
you don’t punish somebody for doing his job. I think this would have been a much bigger black eye for the university than JMU had guilty been the ruling.