Thomas Frampton had a plan. It was a long time hatching, but when he finally saw his chance to charge the Vice President of the United States he didn’t give it a second thought – he was convinced that his futile gesture was a good idea. The New York Post notes:
…[A]uthorities revealed details of how a Bush-hating Yale student wrestled with Secret Service agents and tried to get close to Vice President Dick Cheney Monday night at Madison Square Garden before being charged with assault
Thomas Frampton, 21, a straight – A student and son of a prominent attorney, allegedly approached and spewed anti-war messages at Cheney after dressing up as a GOP supporter and using false credentials to get into the Garden, officials said.
Frampton, who was released on 50,000 dollars bail, is a prominent Yale activist who has been arrested in the past, a prosecutor said.
He gained notoriety when he was among a group of Yale students who filed charges demanding the university president be fired over his handling of a labor situation at the school.I wondered if Frampton’s illegal action would jeopardize his continued attendance at Yale. My initial research indicates that were university officials to follow the letter of their student codes it very well may be grounds for suspension or dismissal.
If you’re wondering if the University could punish a student for outside actions, the answer is yes. Whether they should is another discussion, but across the country universities have held students accountable to their code of conduct whether school was in session or not.
The Yale Medical School (which presumably has similar standards as the University) has this to say about the kind of criminal conduct Frampton engaged in:
The principle of freedom of expression that might otherwise protect even the most offensive public speech does not protect, nor does it even encompass, a right to threaten the dignity and privacy of an individual. Such personally directed behavior will not be tolerated; it is antithetical to academic values, debilitates its victims, compromises the offenders, and undermines the University’s fundamental commitment to individual freedom and respect for all its members. Furthermore acts of intolerance may destroy the very atmosphere wherein freedom of expression is otherwise tolerated and cherished.
Contact the President Richard C. Levin at (203) 432-1333, or by e-mail: opa@yale.edu and let him know you expect the university to act.
I sent an email and noted their policy as well as asking for action. Final comment to Yale’s rep: “We’re watching”
Except the object of Master Frampton’s offensive and assasultive behavior was one of the “permissible” targets. Yale does not kick Frampton out for this.
Do you have text of the “spew”? I’d like to hear what this kid actually said to Cheney before I decide that this kid’s future should be ruined over it.
I could see that using fake ID could be at issue. Of course, if every kid at Yale who used a fake ID was kicked out of Yale…well, there wouldn’t be a lot of students left. *grin*
oh, please.
This has nothing to do with being at Yale. Leave the guy alone.
By the way, if you even knew what Barbara got away with …
Aren’t you being a little petty? Did you see the Young Republican kicking the protester at the RNC? Should he be kicked out of school? Fired from his job? (Well, if he’s working for the RNC, I’d say he should be fired since he’s representing the organization).
asdf: Well, that’s a bit of a blind item in reverse now, isn’t it? What, is someone threatening your dog if you tell? What a twit you are – if you wanted to slam Barbie Bush with made-up accusations, you should make them, not hint that she’s got some history of utter depravity that for some reason you just can’t tell.
To be frank, I think it’s hilarious that Tom got access to the convention so easily. The only questions they asked him after he told the interviewer he was from yale were about bush’s economic policies, and he reeled off the usual platitudes. In all honesty, I think you’ve got a little bit of penis envy regarding Tom’s direct and forefront action. Why couldn’t you do something similar to that girlie-man kerry at his beantown love-in? Finally, what makes you think that Tom is going down the wrong path? Does the fact that he is from a wealthy family mean that he has to go along with the rest of the monetary elite and act like a plutocrat fuck? Come on, get your head out of your ass and try to come to terms with a world where people take their opinions in hand and express them how they please