Hamline Case Violates Student Rights

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

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.