Waiting While Black: University Student Accused of ‘Harassment’ for Wanting to Talk to Adviser

Kevin Bruce, a student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, just wanted to talk to his academic adviser. After numerous attempts to schedule an appointment with her, he finally went to the office to see her in person. Suggested Reading Ryan Coogler, Cynthia Erivo and More Reveal Their Favorite Movies of All Time The History…

Kevin Bruce, a student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, just wanted to talk to his academic adviser. After numerous attempts to schedule an appointment with her, he finally went to the office to see her in person.

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While he was waiting patiently, however, a staff member came up to Bruce and told him that he was harassing his adviser merely by sitting there.

In a video Bruce uploaded to his Twitter feed, the woman—identified as Abby Dawson—comes out and accuses him of harassing a “Mrs. Tilley.”

https://twitter.com/IamKB_/status/598858306522894336

“I’m not harassing no one,” Bruce tells the woman calmly.

The woman, however, will not be deterred. “I can call security. You can fill out the form just like everybody else does,” she said.

“I’m just waiting to talk to someone. I’m not harassing no one,” Bruce repeats.

“Sitting here until someone is available is harassing them,” the woman insists. “Would you like for me to call campus security?”

Watch the exchange below:

https://twitter.com/IamKB_/status/598671312022872064

Other Twitter users rallied around Bruce, retweeting the video and his story, and even sharing their own under the hashtag #ItsBiggerThanKSU.

Bruce said that he didn’t believe it was a racial issue, pointing to other individuals—whom he retweeted—who have had bad experiences with advisers at the university.  

https://twitter.com/IamKB_/status/598879862129094657

Kennesaw State officials later tweeted that they were aware of the situation and that a formal complaint was being processed.

Straight From The Root

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