Kenyon Collegian

This current trend of police being invited on campus is disturbing. One only has to look at the other "drug bust" earlier this year, the recent changes in the Security Drug Policy (involving calling the police if a student is caught with illegal substances), as well as the Sheriff's DUI patrol on College Road (a private, school road) for other examples. While selling drugs is illegal, to label a student a "Drug Trafficker" for a substance as relatively harmless as marijuana in a county with one of the highest percentages of Meth use in the state is ridiculous, even if lawful.

this is really going to cramp his allstus

It's unfortunate that this happened and it's possible that the response was a little harsh. But maybe that depends on how much they found at his home.

I quit allstu before I was arrested. It was 20 grams of personal use. The charges are ridiculous and my room was searched illegally previous to the search warrant. Goodbye over the top charges... Hello freedom.

Uh.. Nuge commenting on the future enrollment of a student and using his name?

FERPA anyone?

Good Riddance. Hahaha.

Robert's not really covered by FERPA here. If it had been campus security that had busted him, he would be by every means. However, one of the exceptions to the limits of disclosure imposed by FERPA is that of cooperation with state authorities.

With that being said, I find it both unethical and incomprehensible that the Collegian would make the decision to publish his name. FERPA allows for the school to release a student's name in collaboration with state and local authorities. It does not give a student-run newspaper the authority or discretion to publish such a name. While my own experience would suggest that the Collegian editors just didn't see the harm in it, since Kenyon's a small campus and I'm sure word got around well before this article even came out, the move simply strikes me as the embodiment of the unprofessional journalism that the Collegian constantly showcases.

To the best of my memory, no other student has ever had their name published in the Village Record during my brief stay at Kenyon, even when enough rumors had gone around in the days prior that everyone knew who it was. THere's simply no good reason to single Robert out like this, even if it is just as a name in a newspaper. Even supposing the charges are dropped or Robert is found to be not guilty, this article could be, in this day and age, a black mark on him when looking for a job. Googling "Robert Granville kenyon" gets you this article at the top of the search, and I'm pretty sure that's not something anyone deserves to have associated with them.

I mean, really. To the best of my knowledge, the Collegian never released the names of the people who assaulted the security officers last year (correct me if I'm wrong on that one). While I don't mean to say that I advocate their names having been published, really though? Isn't this some kind of double standard? Assault a security officer and you're dealt with all hush-hush-like; get caught with less than an ounce of pot and your name is put up in lights? I know whose identity I'd care more about knowing, if only for the fact that I might not want to be too near people that attacked security officers.

Just my two cents. Robert: I hope you beat the charges, man.

Like "Just Some Ex-Student" said, this isn't a FERPA issue. I've also got no problems with the Collegian reporting arrest information which is a matter of public record (my guess is that the assaults of security officers last year were NOT a matter of public record?).

I work for a large Midwestern university and the daily student newspaper here often has students' names and arrests/charges in their "blotter" section, which were provided to them on a daily basis by the local authorities. That's just life. And that what many "good" newspapers do.

It's embarrassing for the students involved, sure. But, that's the nature of public, unprotected information. And Robert certainly isn't helping his case (or his job search) by acknowledging in the comments above that he was in possession of marijuana (regardless of amount).

Yeah, to the best of my knowledge the assaults were handled within the campus judicial process, and I definitely see what you're saying.

Nevertheless (and you're free to correct me if I'm wrong here) I'm going to assume a daily newspaper at a large university does not archive its blotters online, and the names of those arrested and charged end up mostly forgotten with the week's recycling.

I just feel that this article is extremely unusual and uncharacteristic of what I'm used to seeing in the Collegian.

But particularly it just bothers me that, even supposing Robert is not convicted of anything, this article will be on the internet for a cursory google search to turn up. I understand that this is "just life;" I know that it happens all the time, and I know people have gotten caught for far worse getting googled or having incriminating photos of them turn up on facebook or whatever. It could be completely harmless, but it also could end up a serious black mark on his record.

Yeah, it's just life, but it's a facet of life that I think people ought to be a lot more aware of in the digital age we live in. If the sheriff's office is going to make a press release, let them make it, and let the local newspapers report it. But the stuff that's going to be lurking around online for a long time, I feel, should be saved for the event of conviction, if it happens. Will the sheriff's office also make a public statement if Robert is exonerated? And will it get reported on? I doubt both. Perhaps I shouldn't be castigating anyone in particular for that, but this article simply strikes me as unnecessary, inappropriately timed, or some combination of the two.

Crap... it just occurred to me to search my name on Google. Uh oh... Yeah I didn't think about it but it was pretty ludicrous to publish my name. What gives... I haven't been convicted of anything. In fact, the way the sheriff handled this case I may never be convicted of anything. If I am exonerated I will ask that parts of this article be redacted. I hope someone at the Collegian understands the necessity of this action and cooperates.