When Student Suspension Becomes Controversial

Vermont Public Radio's Nina (NY-nah) Keck reported on the controversial suspension of an African-American senior, O'Neil Walker, at Middlebury College in July of 2005. College administrators said 21-year-old Walker seriously violated the school's behavior code by allegedly intruding into the room of another student. Walker, a scholarship student from the Bronx, says he was unfairly charged; he took the school to court to try to get his diploma.

Keck followed up on this story in November of 2005, reporting that an Addison Superior Court Judge ruled that Middlebury had the right to suspend Walker. The court stated that its function was not to reweigh the evidence or redecide Walker's guilt or innocence, but instead to ensure that Walker had been given the opportunity to present evidence to his defense. Walker dropped his charges that the college's actions were racially motivated.

Vermont Public Radio received a national Edward R. Murrow award for Nina Keck's investigative reporting in the small market radio category for these stories.
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Vermont Public Radio's Nina (NY-nah) Keck reported on the controversial suspension of an African-American senior, O'Neil Walker, at Middlebury College in July of 2005. College administrators said 21-year-old Walker seriously violated the school's behavior code by allegedly intruding into the room of another student. Walker, a scholarship student from the Bronx, says he was unfairly charged; he took the school to court to try to get his diploma.

Keck followed up on this story in November of 2005, reporting that an Addison Superior Court Judge ruled that Middlebury had the right to suspend Walker. The court stated that its function was not to reweigh the evidence or redecide Walker's guilt or innocence, but instead to ensure that Walker had been given the opportunity to present evidence... Show full description