U.S. Const. amend. I, § 2: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
N.Y. Const. art. I, § 8: "Every citizen may freely speak, write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments for libels, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact."
State University of New York Oath of Office procedure item requirement. http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=546:
"NYS Civil Service Law §62 requires that 'every person employed by the state or any of its civil divisions, except an employee in the labor class,…shall take and file' the following oath:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of ______________________, according to the best of my ability."
The supposed head of the State University of New York-wide judicial administrators group and Association for Student Conduct Administration award-winner(!) Clarence L. McNeill has three times sworn and filed an oath of office to support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of New York:
From: "Wilbard, Helen (DOS)"
Subject: FOIL
Date: October 11, 2012 at 12:25:45 PM EDT
To: Christopher Philippo
[...]"This is in response to your October 9, 2012 Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request regarding oaths of office for: [...] 10) Clarence L. McNeill [...]
"Your request has been completed and consists of [...] three for Clarence L. McNeill"
Evidently the oath failed to take even on the third try. In response to my reporting Michael W. Barberich for academic dishonesty, faculty ethics violations, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, Mr. McNeill wrote in part on December 6, 2011 9:51 AM in his e-mail with the subject line "Good Morning":
"you should refrain from any and all communications with (or about) Prof. Barberich from this moment forward."
McNeill subsequently forwarded that e-mail in an edited form to Jeanette Altarriba, keeping her in the loop on the retaliation against me for reporting Barberich (and her!) and representing it to her as a "Cease & Desist" (the new subject line he gave the e-mail in forwarding it) and claiming "P.S. I did notify the UPD Police Chief's [sic] of this directive as well."
Clarence L. McNeill, December 8, 2011, 10:39 AM subsequently threatened me again in violation of his Oath of Office, calling his threat a "warning": "Please take this as a final warning. You need to forget about Prof. Barberich."
The University at Albany is committed to providing a safe and secure environment in which all members are treated with dignity and respect, and a campus free from all discrimination on the basis of sex. To that end, the University takes the strongest possible stance against sexual misconduct in all its forms, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual violence or the use of coercion, intimidation or exploitation of others for sexual purposes. [...]
Victims shall:
• Be treated with fairness and respect for their dignity; [Clarence L. McNeill did not treat me with fairness or respect for my dignity, nor were the other victims I'd reported as a witness treated that way AFAIK]
• Have their privacy honored; [Clarence L. McNeill tipped off Michael W. Barberich and Jeanette Altarriba that I'd reported them then informed me that he'd done so]
• Be free from any suggestions that they must report sexual assaults to be assured; recognition of any other identified principles or rights; [I was not assured of any rights by Clarence L. McNeill]
• Have their allegations of sexual assault treated seriously; [Clarence L. McNeill threatened me repeatedly in response to my reporting sexual harassment, which UAlbany defines as a form of sexual assault]
• Be free from any suggestion that they are responsible for the sexual assaults committed against them; [I don't think McNeill made such a suggestion]
• Be free from any threat of retaliation or other attempt to prevent the reporting of sexual misconduct; [I was repeatedly subjected to retaliation and attempts to prevent my reporting of sexual misconduct for an entire semester, which has continued even well after I graduated]
• Be free from unwanted pressure from campus personnel to:
• Report sexual assaults if they do not wish to do so, [Clarence L. McNeill did not pressure me to report any sexual assaults; quite the opposite]
• Report sexual assaults as less serious offenses, [Clarence L. McNeill did not pressure me to report any sexual assaults a less serious offenses]
• Refrain from reporting sexual assaults for any reason, including the fear of unwanted personal publicity. [Clarence L. McNeill repeatedly threatened me to refrain from reporting sexual harassment, which UAlbany defines as a form of sexual assault. Among other things, he characterized my attempts to report Michael W. Barberich's sexual assaults (as UAlbany defines such things) as "Continued attempts to discredit/disparage Prof. Barberich [that] will only provide him fuel in a civil/criminal arena and make you out to look like you are harassing him (and now possibly Dr. Altarriba)."]
"Appendix J Sexual Assault: Reporting Options, Victim's Rights Statement and Prevention Programs." http://www.albany.edu/studentconduct/27173.php
UAlbany administrators evidently approve of Clarence L. McNeill's violations of his Oath of Office, UAlbany policies, etc.:
Cease and Desist
McNeill, Clarence L
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 4:19 PM
To: Philippo, Christopher K
Cc: Presmail; Bouchard, Christine; Thayer, Janet; Murphy, John M; Reilly, John H; Wiley, J. Frank
Importance: High
Attachments:ChrisPhillipoC&D.pdf (87 KB)
Mr. Phillipo:
Attached to this email you will find a formal cease and desist letter. A hard copy of this letter will be mailed to your Glenmont NY address as well.
Clarence
Clarence L. McNeill
Assistant Vice President for Student Success Director, Conflict Resolution & Civic Responsibility
Campus Center 361
(EM): cmcneill@albany.edu
(PH): 518.442.5501
(FX): 518.437.4461
Presmail: UAlbany's then-"President" George Philip
Christine Bouchard: UAlbany "Vice President for Student Success"
Janet Thayer: UAlbany "Associate Counsel"
John M. Murphy: UAlbany "Associate Vice President for Student Success" and "Clery Act Compliance Officer"
John H. Reilly: UAlbany "Senior Counsel"
J. Frank Wiley: UAlbany Police "Chief"
Unlike McNeill, some of them don't appear to have sworn and filed their Oath of Office with the NYS Secretary of State as required. George Philip and J. "Frank" Wiley are among those who appeared to have failed in that requirement. According to the response to the FOIL request, Wiley failed to swear and file one in 1996, the year he was appointed, the only year that really matters. He also failed to do so in 1999 when the UAlbany Peace Officers became UAlbany Police.
The attachment ChrisPhilippoC&D.pdf which had been sent to those six included this threat and dictate by Oath of Office to the US Constitution and NYS Constitution violator Clarence L. McNeill:
"Effective immediately, you are hereby notified that you are to cease and desist all contact with any office, department, unit or employee at the University other than me. As of this date, the University has designated me as your sole contact fore all written and oral communication with the University, including, but not limited to, telephone calls and messages, emails, and mailed and faxed correspondence. I will determine when and if your communications will be addressed by the University."
One would have thought (or hoped) that at least UAlbany's legal counsel would recognize the illegality, unconstitutionality of Clarence L. McNeill's actions.
Perhaps Mr. McNeill has done his job to the best of his ability, his ability being nonexistent - an "incompetent" as Distinguished Professor of History John Monfasani called him, but he has not discharged the duties of the office faithfully, nor has he kept his thrice-sworn and filed Oath of Office.
December 9, 2011 12:44 PM, subject line "RE: retaliation?", part of his top-posted reply: "This [retaliation for having reported sexual harassment] would not be reported to me. That would be ODI [the Office of Diversity and Inclusion]."
Retaliation is reported to McNeill's office, not to ODI. McNeill included my e-mail to him below his reply, in relevant part:
I hadn't realized it was your office, the OCRCR, that retaliation gets reported to, I thought it was going to be the ODI? Should I report it to you as retaliation, or should I not; what would you have me do?I've been trying to live up to this all along:
"Every member of the community, including both faculty and students, shares an interest in maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity. [...] If a violation of academic integrity occurs, faculty, deans, and students all share in the responsibility to report it" (emphasis added).
30. Retaliation
Retaliation is an intentional act taken against an individual who initiates any sexual misconduct complaint, including stalking or intimate partner violence, pursues legal recourse for such a complaint, or participates in any manner in the investigation of such a report. Any act of retaliation is prohibited and is subject to judicial referral. Information on how to report retaliation is found in Appendix J.
IV. RETALIATION
Any threat of retaliation or other attempts to prevent the reporting of sexual misconduct will be prohibited and is subject to disciplinary action. Reports of retaliation should be made to the Director of Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility (518- 442-5501) and/or the Associate Director of Residential Life/Quad Supervisor (518-442-5875) who will assist in filing a complaint for university disciplinary action.
Definition: Retaliation is an intentional act taken against an individual who initiates any sexual misconduct complaint, including stalking or intimate partner violence, pursues legal recourse for such a complaint, or participates in any manner in the investigation of such a report. Any act of retaliation is prohibited and is subject to judicial referral.
I told you I'd reported sexual misconduct, namely sexual harassment,
[...] What I've been subjected to (and the other students) is so wrong, I really want it all to stop.Sexual harassment, which may range from inappropriate sexual innuendoes to coerced sexual relations. Examples of sexual harassment that are unwelcome include but are not limited to: leering at a person’s body, unnecessary touching, pressure for sexual behaviors, sexually explicit statements communicated verbally, or through social networking sites, e- mail, and texting.
McNeill denied that receiving reports of retaliation was part of his job even in the face of my quoting to him the policy that it is reported to him from a publication that's online and that his office distributes in print to some degree that I'd been given in the waiting room where his secretary is. I'd never before been given a printed copy of it in all my years at UAlbany.
How many people who have reported academic dishonesty, faculty ethics violations, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation has Clarence L. McNeill threatened? How often has Clarence L. McNeill threatened people with the knowledge and at least tacit approval of UAlbany and even SUNY administrators?
Perhaps that's something the US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights should've been investigating. UAlbany had been under investigation by OCR while all of the above was going on, and I had also specifically reported it to OCR as well without knowing about the SUNY-wide investigation or knowing that UAlbany was one of the campuses that was being especially focused upon.
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