Kennesaw State Apologizes For Adviser’s Confrontation With Student

Kennesaw State University apologized Friday for the conduct of an adviser, who in a recording posted online threatened to call security on a student for apparently sitting in the room and waiting to speak with his academic adviser.

The incident spawned a hashtag #itsbiggerthanKSU and prompted the University to place the adviser in question, Abigail Dawson, on administrative leave pending the completion of their investigation.

After conducting interviews with 13 students, faculty and staff members, the school announced Friday that the investigation was complete and that it had apologized to the student, Kevin Bruce, for the altercation.

“We have made it very clear to Ms. Dawson and her supervisors that the behavior she demonstrated on the video will not be tolerated; and while we have apologized to the student directly, we also want to publicly apologize for her behavior, which is not representative of KSU’s student-centered culture,” said Ken Harmon, provost and vice president of academic affairs, in a statement.

In the video, Dawson is seen walking into the room telling Bruce that he was harassing another adviser in the Department of Exercise Science and Sport Management, Margaret Tilley.

“I’m not harassing no one,” Bruce said.

Bruce responded that he was just waiting to talk to someone.

“Sitting here until someone is available is harassing them,” Dawson said.

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