Rebuttal to Chancellor Shields’ letter of 5/16/17

Chancellor Shields mailed a letter on May 16, 2017 that Dr. Burton received about May 19, 2017 (Shields-oncampushearing-5-16-17). He could have given this notice by email but he sent it slow mail to delay Dr. Burton’s receipt of the document thereby giving her less time to respond or react. This letter, like the suspension upon which it is based, is troublesome. Here is the suspension rebuttal: (Rebuttal-Shields Suspension-1-4-17).

Below: Rebuttal to Shields’ letter authorizing unreasonably restricted access:

Dr. Burton did not request access to campus for the hearing:

Chancellor Shields wrote “I am approving a request to allow you (Dr. Burton) on campus.” This statement implies that Dr. Burton requested that she be allowed on campus for the hearing however, she did not make that request. Dr. Burton requested that the hearing be held off campus in order to reduce her stress level (AppealPanelViolations).

Police involvement and limiting Dr. Burton’s campus access was unnecessary and unreasonable

The Chancellor sent the letter cc UW-Platteville Police Department. A uniformed police officer was present at the scheduled hearing. It seems Chancellor Shields planned to have Dr. Burton forcibly removed from campus at exactly 30 minutes after the end of each day of hearing if she did not go quietly. There was of course no reason for a police officer to be at the hearing at all. There was of course, no reason for Dr. Burton’s access to campus to be limited in any way. Dr. Burton has not shown herself to be a threat to anyone and has complied with Chancellor Shields’ instructions and directives, even the unreasonable ones. Yet, Chancellor Shields treats her like she is a threat to someone’s safety; he treats her like a violent criminal. There is no policy limiting Dr. Burton’s ability to remain after a hearing is concluded.

Limits on Dr. Burton’s ability to remain at the hearing place after the close of the hearing deprives her of the ability to talk to those in attendance after the conclusion of the meeting and is a violation of her First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. UW Platteville campus is a public place. Chancellor Shields has no right to ban Dr. Burton from campus at all.

Dr. Burton felt a great deal of stress because her access to campus was unfairly restricted and that is why she requested that the hearing be held off-campus. She does not feel safe going on campus, where Chancellor Shields can order a police officer to forcibly remove her on his unreasonable order. A hearing on a neutral location, where she is able to peaceably assemble, would be less stressful for Dr. Burton. Chancellor Shields knew that Dr. Burton suffers from life-threatening stress related injuries. Chancellor Shields could have reduced Dr. Burton’s stress if he had granted her request that the hearings be held off campus however, her request was not even acknowledged but was completely ignored. Instead of trying to decrease Dr. Burton’s stress level Chancellor Shields issued very tightly restricted access, under threat of forcible removal, in front of a kangaroo court.

It seems Chancellor Shields purposely increased the stress on Dr. Burton by “approving” this request that she never made while ignoring her actual request.