Monrovia-Dr. MAPARYAN UL’s President in a statement stated that
“If reports prove to be true through legitimate investigation that any of your members brought knives and sticks on campus and brandished them in the Office of Student Affairs or in any other area, such as a classroom, you will be expelled from the University of Liberia, because bringing weapons to campus is and has long been an offense punishable with expulsion.”
See full statement below
Dr. MAPARYAN ADDRESSES SUP REGARDING ATTACK AGAINST VICE PRESIDENT OF STUDENT AFFAIRS PROF. SEKOU KONNEH
To the Students of SUP (and any others involved):
Let me be unequivocal: Your members’ acts of aggression, destruction, and violence today on the UL Fendall campus against Dr. Sekou Konneh, Vice President of Student Affairs, and the Office of Student Affairs are unacceptable and punishable according to both University of Liberia regulations and Liberian law. If reports prove to be true through legitimate investigation that any of your members brought knives and sticks on campus and brandished them in the Office of Student Affairs or in any other area, such as a classroom, you will be expelled from the University of Liberia, because bringing weapons to campus is and has long been an offense punishable with expulsion. Whether or not you have seen the student handbook, I informed members of your organization about this fact at the Student Town Hall last month, because bringing weapons to campus is considered a grave offense punishable with expulsion without a prior warning letter or prior suspension. You will have to face the consequences of today’s actions.
Furthermore, the disruptions you caused to classes on both Fendall and Capitol Hill campuses today, using fear-mongering to shut down teaching and learning, are likewise unacceptable. The University of Liberia exists to deliver education and not to serve as a political playground. Once politics extends beyond the educational mission, it is no longer welcome here. While these hooliganistic protests are likewise prohibited in the Student Handbook, the penalty, if proven after a legitimate investigation, is suspension, particularly if a prior warning has been issued.
Last week, you protested outside my office on the Capitol Hill Campus and let me know about your concerns regarding Vice President Konneh, particularly in terms of his handling of suspension letters that were addressed to various members of SUP and blocking the ID numbers of certain students. You maintained that the VPSA Office has not followed due process and is violating the rights of students by issuing suspension letters without an investigative process, particularly since students have not received the student handbook and no one got a warning letter. I told you that day that “I hear you” and I stated that I will investigate these matters. I also reminded you that, if any members of your group have engaged in violations of the student code of conduct or broken any laws, that disciplinary action is acceptable and warranted in order to uphold the rule of law, which is the foundation of any system of justice, and you agreed with me in principle.
Despite our conversation, matters escalated. After leaving my office, a confrontation took place at the Office of Student Affairs in which two members of the Student Affairs staff were bodily harmed, one requiring medical treatment. Over the weekend, members of your organization escalated threats against Vice President Konneh, including circulating a “Wanted” poster on social media. As you know, decisions about the appointment or dismissal of Vice Presidents rest solely with the President of the University. SUP has not allowed the UL President to conduct the necessary investigations, and, thus, the escalation of the rhetoric, most notably threatening the safety of VP Konneh, is both unwarranted and in violation of both policy and law.
Today’s attack on VP Konneh shows that you are not interested in dialogue or problem solving, but rather with the theatrics of so-called revolutionary action. Any deep student of revolutionary theory, history, or biography knows that the most successful revolutionaries are those that make the place better for people who are oppressed, and not people who make things worse. Leaving a trail of destruction is an immature tactic. As Che Guevara famously said, “The true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” This – and not the violence we witnessed today – is what I expect of you, and what I will continue to expect, regardless of any disciplinary outcome, which I expect you to accept honorably.
There is a principle called “proportionality” in warfare, which specifies that the response to an offence should be proportional to the offence itself. If you are true and honorable revolutionaries, then proportionality should be one of your principles. Your actions today and last Friday, which have bodily harmed three persons and destroyed property, fall outside the bounds of proportionality for the offenses you registered in your press release from last week and shared with me at the steps of the Cassell Building. I have expressed many times to you that I am willing to work with you to get at the root causes of the problems you continually identify and to resolve them at the systems level, but your expectation of instant gratification is unrealistic and unproductive.
For those members of SUP who were not involved in the violent actions and who value a peaceful approach to radical change and reform of our institution, I urge you to stand strong in your commitment to nonviolence and peaceful forms of protest, and persuade your peers to follow suit. There is so much we could do together if only the violence and irascibility would stop. Everyone here wants a better UL…The question now is, who will actually bring it about?
