Tough To Be Devout in College

Chris Bowler being suspended by Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH for not being Politically Correct. Lies trump truth.The case of Christopher Bowler is in the saddest tradition of show trials at America's colleges. What was the case about?

After a day of volunteering for Special Olympics, Chris spent the evening of February 10 with the King Edward Society where he was planning to join. On his way home, he stopped at the room of three friends who had a room full of guests who were drinking. When Chris said he'd been with the King Edward Society that day, one of the kids partying in the room said the King Edward Society members were a bunch of racists and that they had called him a n*****. Chris replied that the brothers had not called the kid a n*****. This was a charge the kid had been making since he had failed in pledging the fraternity.

Meanwhile the other two began calling the King Edward Society names and told Chris he was a p**** because he didn’t want to dance naked in front of girls and members of another fraternity (hazing that is illegal). When Chris likewise insulted the other fraternity, the kid joining there demanded Chris leave the room. As he left the room, the two continued to taunt Chris about King Edward Society, to which Chris responded making a crying gesture and told them to "Stop crying". After Chris left the room, one kid had him restrained by the other two and then sucker punched Chris in the face. Here is the photo the college never saw and wouldn't let Chris show:

Chris momentarily broke free and got a shot to his attacker's lip. Then he was restrained again while the three of them all flailed away at him. When Chris finally got free, he went upstairs and saw how bad the injury was to his eye. He returned later protesting loudly but no further punches were thrown. What his attackers did next was even more despicable. They fabricated a story that Chris had used racial epithets on one of the kids and had attacked another. And the College, in its politically correct posture, bought the whole thing!

In fact, the RA falsified the time of the incident to make it appear to have been prior to 2 a.m., did not report that the accusers were obviously intoxicated, failed to call campus security, did not check with Chris as to what happened, did not call for medical attention for anyone, and did not take Chris' statement until days later AFTER he had already filed a report with the Dean! Why? Perhaps because he was violating campus rules himself with a girl in his room past 2 a.m.? Talk about negligence and conspiracy!

Note: Take a stroll through this guy's hall sometime and you'll see more empties than your average recycling center. Apparently he's not familiar with the law on underage drinking or campus rules. In fairness though, his hall isn't atypical for this school.

Did the school enforce its own rules about fighting? Did the assailants admit their part in the incident? Why is only one student being punished? The attackers admitted in the hearing that one had struck Chris and that there had been drinking in the room but no charges were ever brought.

The suspension is for the remainder of the term meaning he loses credit for all work performed for this term and all tuition and fees, room and board for the term. Is that how you treat a three time Dean's List achiever with a first offense?

Question: How did a 150 lb. kid land a punch to the face of a 210 kid that works out all the time unless the bigger kid was either restrained or wasn't expecting it, as when it was the first punch thrown? Since the attackers claimed they were not restraining Chris, either one of the kids swung first or they are lying about not restraining Chris or both. Chris says both. If they are lying about this aspect of the situation, might they be lying about the rest? This picture does not show a wound given by someone defending themself. This wound was delivered by someone with intent to harm. Chris was outnumbered in the fight and in the hearing.

Question: Why didn't the college let Chris show the photos of his face at the hearing that showed the severity of his injury? Why didn't they ask for them during the appeal process?

Question: Why wasn't Chris allowed to call witnesses who could testify that the one kid had threatened previously to make

false charges of racism aganst King Edward Society while at St. Anselm? A letter had been sent to the board stating just that. In fact even EYE WITNESSES who would have been favorable to Chris were excluded from the hearing!! "We''e got enough, thank you," they were told. Enough what?

A subsequent letter was sent to the college paper. But instead of reporting that, they reported that the black kid said Chris failed to apologize. So why then did the kid ask for the the suspension to be reversed and have this photo taken of himself with Chris AFTER the alleged incident? And everyone who knows this kid knows what a joke it is when he says that "there was alcohol consumed in his room that night but denied drinking any himself." Right.

Question: Why did one attacker tell the administration that the punishment for Chris is too severe? (See Below)

Could it be that its because the whole thing was a lie in the first place? Why can't the college see that this was just an argument between friends where they said things they didn't mean and then apologized afterwards and continued their friendship? The school seemed to have an agenda to get rid of Chris from the start.

(5:29:12 PM): bowler(

5:30:27 PM): ok, i dont have to respond to this, but i am writing to let u know that i am writing a letter to the judicial board asking for them to reverse the decision they made(

5:30:58 PM): i do not want to ruin your life, as far as i am considered i did not want the case to go as far as it did

(5:32:48 PM): u were a friend

(5:33:05 PM): and i do not wish to see anything like this happen

Question: Why is the college so quick to accept the version of events from a group that had just been written up the previous week for an alcohol infraction (Beirut game) and had a lot to lose by getting in trouble for another one? Why doesn't the college believe the devout Catholic kid who has no history of getting in trouble and even admitted to drinking (though not on campus and not to excess) that night?

Question: Why wasn't anyone brought up on drinking charges? Possibly because that would have meant severe punishment for the kids who brought the charges against Chris? Is the college covering up for the others while punishing Chris? The Dean claimed to Chris' parents that Chris never mentioned the others' drinking but it's right in his statement submitted to the Board by that Dean! And witnesses admitted there was drinking going on.

The Dean also promised an objective and fair appeal process and then twice advised Chris to start packing BEFORE there had been a review and decision!

Who is Chris Bowler? Chris is a sophomore in the Politics major. He is a devout Catholic and is well known to many clergy. He has no record of disciplinary action whatsoever. He has served the poor in inner cities since he was 14, has led Catholic Youth Groups and has been to World Youth Day as well as Medjugorje in Bosnia He's the last person you'd expect to receive a harsh punishment for a first offense at a Catholic College.

Question: Why does the college seem so incurious about the obvious inconsistencies in the witness accounts? Such as what Chris really said to them, how he said it, context, who was in the hall, how far apart people were, etc., etc.Question: Chris was told that it is a violation of college rules to strike another student even in self-defense. If so then why was no one else charged for striking Chris? Is it the college's belief that there was a one-man fight? How did his injuries appear on February 11th as shown in time-stamped photographs that he was not allowed to show?

Question: Is it possible that the college was looking for a way to get rid of Chris Bowler because his father had written a stern letter to the President of Saint Anselm regarding it's scheduling of the debates on Holy Thursday and criticizing the plan to integrate the dorms with respect to gender?

Question: When did Saint Anselm College stop being Catholic?

Question: Which is a Catholic virtue, political correctness or Truth? This college seems much more concerned with appearances than finding the truth and are willing to trash a kid's future to achieve their "diversity" goals.

"This was clearly timed to minimize damage by announcing the decision the day break began - the middle of Holy Week. I didn't expect much better from a school that warmly welcomed Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice Amrerica a couple of weeks ago," said Steve Bowler, Chris' dad. "Anyone who came here thinking this is a Catholic school is getting ripped off."

Why should you care?

Because once one student is suspended for something he didn't do, you could be next.The real offenders got off completely free.What should you do?

Find out the truth - People talk. Some have consciences. Report what you find out. Pray to Saint Jude - Patron of Hopeless Causes...