Bully Yanked The Freshman's Ponytail — Didn’t Know She Was Trained in Krav Maga
Chapter 13
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Dean Hargrove was a man in his late 50s, silver hair, a large wooden desk, and framed photographs that suggested important relationships. He had the manner of someone who had spent many years managing situations. He asked Claire to sit down. He said he understood she had filed a complaint and he wanted her to know the university took all such matters seriously. He said he had personally spoken with Derek Moss, who had a very different recollection of the events in question. He said that in his experience, these situations often came down to miscommunication between students from different backgrounds adjusting to university life. He said that Derek was a student in good standing with a significant athletic scholarship and a long history of positive contributions to the Harlow community. He said that he hoped Claire would feel comfortable taking some time to consider whether formal proceedings were truly the most productive path forward.He said all of this in a warm and measured tone that was designed to sound like concern.Claire listened to all of it. Then she said, "Did you speak with Derek before or after I filed my complaint?"A pause. "I speak with many students regularly," Hargrove said."I understand," Claire said. "I'm asking whether your conversation with him happened before or after I submitted my formal complaint on Saturday morning."Hargrove looked at her. "I'm not sure of the exact timeline," he said."I filed at 9:03 on Saturday morning," Claire said. "I have the timestamp on my confirmation email."Another pause. "Claire," he said, "I want to make sure you understand that decisions made now can have lasting effects on a young person's academic record."She looked at him. She understood exactly what he had just said. He had wrapped it carefully, but it was not difficult to unwrap."I appreciate your time," she said. She stood up. "I'll keep the university's guidance in mind."She walked out. She stood in the hallway outside the dean's office and breathed slowly. She thought:The conversation with Derek happened before Saturday morning. Someone had told him before she filed, which meant someone had been informed before she filed, which meant someone in that office had made a call.She needed Marsh. She found him in his office at 4:00 that afternoon. The door was open; he was reading something and making notes in the margins. He looked up when she knocked."Whitfield," he said.She sat down. She told him about the dean, about the timeline, about the phone call she now suspected had happened before her complaint was formally on record.Marsh listened. He had taken his reading glasses off and was holding them in one hand. When she finished, he said, "Has this happened before with Derek Moss or anyone connected to him?""I don't know," she said, "but I think it might have.""What makes you think that?"She thought about the pause in the student affairs office on Saturday, the way the woman had typed differently when she heard the name. "A feeling," she said, "and a pattern."Marsh looked at her for a moment. "A feeling isn't enough," he said. "A pattern needs evidence.""I know," she said."If there was a previous incident that was handled improperly," he said carefully, "and if there were documentation of that improper handling, that would be a very different conversation.""How would someone find that?""The student conduct office keeps records of all formal complaints. They are not fully public, but they are accessible under certain circumstances. A student who had filed a previous complaint and subsequently withdrew it might still exist in those records."