Students claim race-based treatment

Two weeks after having all academic misconduct charges against him dismissed, one nursing student at the University of South Alabama says the administration has continued to threaten him. Dirisu Musa, a senior majoring in pediatrics, said he was summoned to USA College of Nursing Dean Debra Davis' office on Jan. 30, a week after he was exonerated in a controversial academic misconduct case brought on by that college's administration. Musa and another nursing student, Parveen "Terry" Kumar, claimed that they were singled out in that case because they are international students. Musa, suspicious about the circumstances surrounding this surprise meeting, said he asked two fellow students, Joyce Austin and Ben Neptune, to accompany him to Davis' office, to act as witnesses. Musa said that Davis met him in the reception area and demanded to see him privately. "I told her, 'If you're not prepared to meet with them present, then you're not prepared to meet with me,'" he said. According to a letter dated Feb. 1 that Musa sent to Davis and USA Vice President of Academic Affairs Patsy Covey, Musa said he did not want to meet with Davis privately because "of all the troubles she [had put him] through in the past." "I told her that I don't feel safe with her," Musa said. "Harm has already been done." The letter said that Davis did relent and "allowed the students privy to [the] conversation." But it is what happened next that Musa said upset him. "Before we went to the meeting," he said, "[Davis] asked me if this was my last semester, and I said, "yes." And she said, "Do you want to graduate from this school?' "I said, 'You just asked me if this was my last semester and now you ask if I want to graduate from this school.' And then I asked her, 'Is this supposed to be a threat?'" Musa said Davis did not answer, and that he perceived the question as a threat. "I see it as a threat to my academic pursuits, and indeed I see it as a threat to my life also," he said. Austin, one of the students who went with Musa to the meeting, verified the story. "[Davis told Musa], 'If you want the rest of this semester to go smoothly, then I suggest we have this meeting,'" she said. Austin said that when Musa asked Davis whether she was threatening him, Davis wasn't able to understand Musa's question, so Austin repeated it for her. "[Davis] was pacing back and forth," Austin said. "I guess she was nervous or upset. I just got the impression that she didn't want us in there because she couldn't say what she really wanted to say." Musa said that at the end of the meeting, he reminded Davis that he and Kumar were not the only ones in possession of a study guide that the College of Nursing administration constituted as academic misconduct, again accusing the administration of discrimination. "[Davis] just walked out and said, 'Have a nice day,'" he said. Musa and Kumar had been charged with possession of an unauthorized study guide that appeared to reference certain questions on an exam in MCN 345 - Child Health Nursing. The study guide was written by a student who had previously taken that exam. Musa said that the student who wrote the guide is white. Davis could not comment on this particular situation, but she did issue a statement on the case overall. The statement implies that it was another student or group of students who made the academic misconduct accusations, not the administration. "Whenever a student reports a potential violation of University academic standards policies by another student," Davis said, "faculty are morally obligated to conduct an investigation. This case provides a clear example as to why these investigations should be done privately to protect the good name and character of the accused student, as well as to conform to federal student privacy laws. It is unfortunate that this matter has become public and inappropriate to comment further on it." Federal student privacy laws prohibit universities from officially commenting on academic misconduct cases. Musa met with Covey on Feb. 9 concerning potential discrimination, but the details of that meeting remain classified. Donna Lee, another student who got involved in this case when the College of Nursing administration requested to view her e-mail because she had allegedly received the study guide from Musa, was never charged with possession of the document. Associate Dean of the College of Nursing Barbara Broome had asked Lee repeatedly for access to the student's e-mail, and Lee said she refused every time. Broome accessed the e-mail anyway and wrote Lee a letter thanking Lee for her help and promising Lee that she would not be implicated in the academic misconduct case, according to Lee. "I have Barbara Broome recorded," Lee said. "When I was in her office, I had a witness with me there. Plus I have her on tape. I never gave her my permission, no if's, and's or but's." Lee said she has not found any other details about the alleged violation because she has been busy concentrating on school. "I just want to get out," she said. However, Lee said she is considering meeting with Covey and Vice President of Student Affairs Dale Adams about the matter. Some students say they have been called in on cheating allegations by the College of Nursing administration as well, but they did not feel threatened. One student who asked that his name be withheld said he was called in and accused of cheating. "It was one of those situations where they thought I had information, and I should consider my words very carefully," he said. "It was dramatic, but I didn't feel threatened per se. Once they realized that I did make the grade on my own, things did lighten up." But Musa claimed that was not the case with him. He said he feels Davis is threatening him because she lost the case against him, and he said he still thinks he and Kumar were singled out because they are international students. Both Musa and Kumar said they suffer from near panic attacks every time they enter the classroom now. Musa, a student from Nigeria, and Kumar, an Indian student, said they never thought things like this would happen to them in the United States. "I feel like this is what would happen in a third-world country," Kumar said, "not America."