Hundreds Protest Drug Searches & Evictions at Franklin Pierce

[Kat Kanning]

Hundreds Protest Searches & Evictions at Franklin Pierce

Students Locked Out of Housing for Suspected Drug Use

Rindge, NH – Hundreds of Franklin Pierce University (FPU) students will protest the recent implementation of a new campus policy that has left at least four students without places to sleep following an unannounced maintenance check. FPU's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is organizing the protest, which will take place from noon to 1 p.m. today in front of the Library.

During Tuesday's housing maintenance check, FPU implemented a new policy that dictates administrators call the police every time drug use is suspected in on campus housing. FPU's prior policy was to handle small nonviolent offenses internally—a common practice at many universities.

One FPU Junior, Robert Nickelson, was taken out of class by administrators and brought to the on-campus trailer in which he resides. Rindge police officers questioned Nickelson about a "grinder," a device commonly used to dice tobacco and sometimes marijuana, which was found by administrators in the room. Nickelson asserted his Fourth Amendment rights and refused a search of the room by police. A bolt was applied to his front door and he was told to refrain from entering the premises until the police had come back with a warrant.

In a video posted on YouTube.com, Nickelson explains the situation, saying "As of now, we are homeless. We have nowhere to eat, nowhere to sleep, we can't do our papers, all of our schoolwork that's due tomorrow... I don't understand how we can be thrown from our house like this."

Students who are convicted of drug offenses can be automatically denied federal financial aid due to the Aid Elimination Penalty of the Higher Education Act. "This policy has a larger impact on students' academics compared to the prior policy that focused more on education and counseling," said Jonathan Perri, an FPU student and SSDP spokesperson. "How can we allow a student's room to be locked up with little explanation as to how they will get prepared for class? And because of the Aid Elimination penalty, students are at risk of being forced to drop out of school, which can only make drug problems worse."

SSDP hosted an emergency response meeting last night, which drew approximately 150 students—nearly one tenth of the student population.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs is failing our generation and our society. SSDP mobilizes and empowers young people to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future, while fighting back against counterproductive Drug War policies, particularly those that directly harm students and youth.

http://www.keenefreepress.com/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=627&Itemid=36

[KBCraig]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXDM6UObNA

[youtube=425,350]4pXDM6UObNA[/youtube]

[Kat Kanning]

Thanks KB.

[Dave Ridley]

sent to

Admin@franklinpierce.edu

My name is Dave Ridley; I live in Manchester.  Is it true that your university and police collaborated to lock students out of their own rooms recently?

Just because they were suspected of having drug paraphenalia? 

I read an article about it in the Keene Free Press.
http://www.keenefreepress.com/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=627&Itemid=36

I am at (number) if you wish to call me and address my concerns.

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[Kat Kanning]