Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Fate of freshman unknown

Stepfather, roommate discuss freshman's future

Some say Kent Harvey will not be returning to school this semester, but by the way his phone rings one would think he's still there. \nAs President Myles Brand's decision to fire coach Bob Knight reached the campus Sunday afternoon, fliers seeking the return of Harvey, "Dead or Alive," began circulating. Houses began mock lynchings of the freshman, three days after he said Knight grabbed him and verbally assaulted him as he left Assembly Hall Thursday afternoon. \nMark Shaw, former radio personality and frequent Knight critic, watched the University's decision Sunday afternoon from his Nashville home. He said he was "very, very disappointed today."\n"I'm very disappointed to hear that there had been other incidents because perhaps this confrontation with my stepson would have never happened if the University had taken action," he said. "That really disappointed me." \nShaw said he would have been satisfied if Knight contacted him and his stepsons.\n"I just wanted an apology," he said. "Things might have been different had I called Knight first."\nWhat he did do after the incident was place a call to Christopher Simpson, vice president for public and government relations, to explain what had transpired.\n"I told him what had happened," Shaw said. "(Simpson) asked me what I wanted and I said, 'I want an apology and I wanted to make sure you knew about this.'"\nAlthough Harvey is being targeted as the reason Knight was fired, Shaw said a lot of the responsibility should be placed on him.\n"A lot of this publicity is my fault because of who I am," Shaw said. "If they had been the stepsons of John Doe, probably none of this would have occurred that way. But because it's me and I've been a critic of Knight, criticism falls on them." \nShaw said he hopes Knight supporters realize "these boys did nothing wrong." \n"It's tough to be a victim. It's very difficult to be a victim," he said. "No wonder people don't come forward and stand up about things anymore because right away they get hit." \nStanding in Harvey's room in Forest Quad and listening to the constant ringing of the phone and the angered voices on the other end, saying, "You better watch your back," might reinforce this idea. \nHarvey's roommate De Javieur Speller, a freshman, said his phone has been ringing off the hook since Friday. He said Harvey left Friday afternoon after classes and hasn't returned to his room since. He called his roommate Friday afternoon and said, "I'm not coming back."\n"He was kind of shaken up about it," Speller said. \nSpeller said he learned of the incident early Friday morning when Harvey recounted what happened as he left Assembly Hall Thursday afternoon upon purchasing football tickets. According to Speller, Harvey was "scared" when Knight grabbed him.\n"I wasn't surprised when he left," Speller said. \nWhile Shaw and his family are assessing whether or not Harvey and his two brothers will return to IU, Simpson, who informed the public about the incident, said the University is willing to help the "boys" in any way possible.\n"We offered to do everything and anything to ensure that these young men, who found themselves in a situation they never envisioned or imagined, have the opportunity to continue to have a good experience at Indiana University," Simpson said. \nShaw said he and his family are "assessing" whether the boys will return to campus this fall. \n"My hope is they want to go back to the University," Shaw said. "I would hope that at some point those students will realize that these boys did nothing wrong and have a right to go to the \nUniversity ... that they would rally in their support and say, 'How can we help you come back?"

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe