Rally Condemns Suspensions
Dublin Core
Title
Rally Condemns Suspensions
Subject
Marijuana--Law and legislation
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
Description
On March 30, 1979, MWC students hold a rally to protest the college suspensions of four male Mary Washington students charged with drug offenses.
Creator
McFalls, Helen Marie
Source
McFalls, Helen Marie. "Rally Condemns Suspensions." The Bullet (Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA), April 3, 1979, p. 1.
Date
1979-04-03
Rights
The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source.
Format
3 JPGs
300 DPI
Language
English
Coverage
Fredericksburg, VA
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
[Title] Rally Condemns Suspensions
[Author] By Helen Marie McFalls
"Innocent until proven guilty" and "due process of law" were the cries of a crowd of MWC students gathered on Westmoreland Green on Friday, March 30 to protest the suspensions of four Madison residents who were arrested in the Madison drug raid. President Prince B. Woodard suspended the four men the day after their arrests and scheduled administrative hearings for each on April 3. The purpose for the rally was to point out and protest the fact that these four students were barred from classes before any legal proof of their guilt was established; before the police lab reports determined whether the confiscated substances are illegal.
According to Michael Mello, the first speaker at the rally and former president of the MWC chapter of NORML, "There are two problems with (the suspensions): these problems compose the essence of (this) protest. First, by suspending the students before the (civil court) hearing, Woodard is saying that they are guilty until proven innocent. They are being punished before a hearing has determined that they are even guilty of the offense . . . Second, there seems to be a problem with the College trying and punishing the students for the same offense that they will later be tried for in civil court. This smacks of double jeopardy . . ."
After Mello outlined the reasons for the demonstration, Frederick Ford, a practicing attorney in Alexandria and a volunteer for the Virginia State chapter of NORML addressed the audience. Ford began by commending the gathered students for their efforts and stating "I hope the President (Woodard) is listening today." He then launched into an analysis of the issue being protested and the implications of the issue. He said, "It is a sad thing that this College's administration, by its actions, is trying to teach a very dangerous lesson. First they teach you in political science classes that people are innocent until proven guilty." He noted that we are taught that there are safeguards within the law to ensure that a person is treated as innocent until proven guilty and that no action can be taken until guilt is proved. "And now," he observed, "the administration is saying we don't care that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The administration only cares about raw, naked power and they have it and you (MWC students) are their slaves."
Ford commented that the student protesters have "learned far better than the administration what our laws mean. You should be congratulated, they condemned."
"I submit to the President of this college," Ford continued, "that this (possession of marijuana)
[end page one]
[start page two]
is not a serious crime; not a serious problem. I cannot understand why the administration is taking such action for such a piddling offense."
Finally Ford pledged the support of the state NORML saying, "With you, the state NORML chapter demands that these four students have the same rights that the members of the administration and every person have and deserve."
Vice President of Custis dorm George Semples delivered the next address. "Who are we?" he began. "We are not a group of angry pot smokers, we are a group of concerned students." He noted that as students we can identify with the four Madison males who are losing "two precious and critical weeks of their education" for an offense that has yet to be proved.
Semples said that he has seen the search warrant procured for the Madison drug raid. It was composed of three parts: first, the suspicion of paraphenalia. This, Semples noted, "is not illegal, and if there was substance inside that peraphenalia it is not yet proved. But these students are presently out of school." Second, the warrant stated suspicion of marijuana. The speaker said, "It might be obvious to us, it might be obvious to them but there is yet no proof (that the substance was indeed marijuana) and these students are still out of school." Third, the warrant contained a clause providing for the suspicion of distribution materials. A scale was confiscated during the raid. Semples noted simply, "It is not illegal to possess equipment to weigh things and yet these students are still out of school!"
The last speaker of the day was MWC student John Schumacher. He noted that MWC is not and should not be a democracy. It is an oligopoly comprised of Woodard and the B.O.V. "But," he questioned, "is this oligopoly a just one?" Schumacher believes that the suspensions of the four Madison residents is an indication of the justice or lack thereof in MWC's administrative element. "It is obvious," he commented, "that the administration and the B.O.V. are more concerned with the reputation of the school than the justice of their policies."
More than 100 people attended the rally. Press coverage included The Free Lance-Star, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, AVC-TV, WMWC and the Bullet. It should be noted that the rally was the result of a meeting of concerned students in Westmoreland on March 29. The four suspended Madison males were in no way involved in the protest and were not present at the rally. As Schumacher noted in the closing speech, "the concerns of this rally do not pertain to any individual case. It is a principle for which we fight."
[end page two]
[start page three]
[Image - Frederick Ford stands at microphone, with a sign labeled "Westmoreland Hall" in front of him]
[Image credit] Photograph by Houston Kempton
[Image caption] Frederick Ford, an Alexandria attorney who serves as a NORML volunteer, speaks at the protest on Westmoreland Green as ex-MWC NORML president Mike Mello and Eric Wootten look on.
[end page three]
[Author] By Helen Marie McFalls
"Innocent until proven guilty" and "due process of law" were the cries of a crowd of MWC students gathered on Westmoreland Green on Friday, March 30 to protest the suspensions of four Madison residents who were arrested in the Madison drug raid. President Prince B. Woodard suspended the four men the day after their arrests and scheduled administrative hearings for each on April 3. The purpose for the rally was to point out and protest the fact that these four students were barred from classes before any legal proof of their guilt was established; before the police lab reports determined whether the confiscated substances are illegal.
According to Michael Mello, the first speaker at the rally and former president of the MWC chapter of NORML, "There are two problems with (the suspensions): these problems compose the essence of (this) protest. First, by suspending the students before the (civil court) hearing, Woodard is saying that they are guilty until proven innocent. They are being punished before a hearing has determined that they are even guilty of the offense . . . Second, there seems to be a problem with the College trying and punishing the students for the same offense that they will later be tried for in civil court. This smacks of double jeopardy . . ."
After Mello outlined the reasons for the demonstration, Frederick Ford, a practicing attorney in Alexandria and a volunteer for the Virginia State chapter of NORML addressed the audience. Ford began by commending the gathered students for their efforts and stating "I hope the President (Woodard) is listening today." He then launched into an analysis of the issue being protested and the implications of the issue. He said, "It is a sad thing that this College's administration, by its actions, is trying to teach a very dangerous lesson. First they teach you in political science classes that people are innocent until proven guilty." He noted that we are taught that there are safeguards within the law to ensure that a person is treated as innocent until proven guilty and that no action can be taken until guilt is proved. "And now," he observed, "the administration is saying we don't care that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The administration only cares about raw, naked power and they have it and you (MWC students) are their slaves."
Ford commented that the student protesters have "learned far better than the administration what our laws mean. You should be congratulated, they condemned."
"I submit to the President of this college," Ford continued, "that this (possession of marijuana)
[end page one]
[start page two]
is not a serious crime; not a serious problem. I cannot understand why the administration is taking such action for such a piddling offense."
Finally Ford pledged the support of the state NORML saying, "With you, the state NORML chapter demands that these four students have the same rights that the members of the administration and every person have and deserve."
Vice President of Custis dorm George Semples delivered the next address. "Who are we?" he began. "We are not a group of angry pot smokers, we are a group of concerned students." He noted that as students we can identify with the four Madison males who are losing "two precious and critical weeks of their education" for an offense that has yet to be proved.
Semples said that he has seen the search warrant procured for the Madison drug raid. It was composed of three parts: first, the suspicion of paraphenalia. This, Semples noted, "is not illegal, and if there was substance inside that peraphenalia it is not yet proved. But these students are presently out of school." Second, the warrant stated suspicion of marijuana. The speaker said, "It might be obvious to us, it might be obvious to them but there is yet no proof (that the substance was indeed marijuana) and these students are still out of school." Third, the warrant contained a clause providing for the suspicion of distribution materials. A scale was confiscated during the raid. Semples noted simply, "It is not illegal to possess equipment to weigh things and yet these students are still out of school!"
The last speaker of the day was MWC student John Schumacher. He noted that MWC is not and should not be a democracy. It is an oligopoly comprised of Woodard and the B.O.V. "But," he questioned, "is this oligopoly a just one?" Schumacher believes that the suspensions of the four Madison residents is an indication of the justice or lack thereof in MWC's administrative element. "It is obvious," he commented, "that the administration and the B.O.V. are more concerned with the reputation of the school than the justice of their policies."
More than 100 people attended the rally. Press coverage included The Free Lance-Star, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, AVC-TV, WMWC and the Bullet. It should be noted that the rally was the result of a meeting of concerned students in Westmoreland on March 29. The four suspended Madison males were in no way involved in the protest and were not present at the rally. As Schumacher noted in the closing speech, "the concerns of this rally do not pertain to any individual case. It is a principle for which we fight."
[end page two]
[start page three]
[Image - Frederick Ford stands at microphone, with a sign labeled "Westmoreland Hall" in front of him]
[Image credit] Photograph by Houston Kempton
[Image caption] Frederick Ford, an Alexandria attorney who serves as a NORML volunteer, speaks at the protest on Westmoreland Green as ex-MWC NORML president Mike Mello and Eric Wootten look on.
[end page three]
Original Format
Newspaper
Vol. No./Issue No.
vol. 52, issue 18
Contributor of the Digital Item
Bales, Jack
Files
Citation
McFalls, Helen Marie, “Rally Condemns Suspensions,” HIST299, accessed July 12, 2026, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/items/show/74.