Kevin Bruce, an exercise science major at Kennesaw State University, was having trouble getting in touch with his academic adviser over email, so he did what any student would do in the same situation, he waited to be seen in the school’s “advising waiting room.” Apparently, you’re not supposed to do that.
Instead of being helped, an adviser by the name of Abby Dawson came out and straight-out accused him of harassment, of all things. She didn’t offer to help, reschedule another time to see him, nope. Instead, she thought this warranted getting student police involved. Since the video was posted on Twitter, several people are calling this prima facie racism, at its best.
The exchange took place, as follows:
“I’m not harassing no one,” said Bruce.
“I can call security,” says Dawson. “You can fill out the form just like everybody else does.”
“I’m just waiting to talk to someone,” Bruce tells her. “I’m not harassing no one, though.”
“Sitting here until somebody’s available is harassing them,” she insists. She then says, “Would you like for me to call campus security?”
This isn’t the first encounter he’s had with Mrs. Dawson, though. In an email exchange from earlier in the school year you can clearly see Mrs. Dawson’s style of “academic advisement,” if you wish to call it that.
Pic via Twitter.
But, it turns out, students of all colors are having similar issues with Mrs. Dawson. This isn’t so much about race, as much as it is about her just being a horrible educator.
Pic via Twitter.
Pic via Twitter.
So far, though, it hasn’t been reported that she has done something so over the top such as this with any other students. But, there are numerous reports of her being downright rude, and just overall unconcerned with helping students, in general, with their problems.
The video (below) pretty much speaks for itself, but what led up to the encounter is equally as important since it’s best not to take things out of context.
Bruce was actually trying to speak to Margaret Tilley, his go-to adviser, when a department staff member suggested he end up talking to Dawson.
Also, the only reason Bruce even showed up in the first place was because the scheduled appointment he had was canceled, and he had tried several times to schedule a meeting, with no success.
It’s just inexcusable that this is the reaction he received for sitting in the waiting room, trying to get help with his education.
Here’s a fun fact:
Only 15 percent of KSU students graduate in 4 years.
This is a ridiculous number. School officials should be embarrassed. Maybe it’s time this university review its policies, and not consider it harassment to patiently wait in a waiting room to see your academic adviser. That 15 percent might just go up a couple notches.
Here is the video that’s causing such an uproar. Take a look at the worst academic adviser, EVER:
Rude advisors at Kennesaw . Smh pic.twitter.com/ugcX4gnIsp
— KB (@IamKB_) May 14, 2015
Featured image: via screen capture from Twitter