Officials shed clothes, Carter apologizes

By Jessica Galliart

The actions of two high-ranking administrators at a Manifest kick-off meeting on Feb. 23 stirred up some controversy last week on campus.

After at least one complaint was filed with Human Resources, an incident at the open meeting involving Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs, and Eliza Nichols, dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts, briefly shedding garments was brought to the attention of the Office of the General Counsel, and Columbia President Warrick L. Carter released a statement addressing the incident.

“The kick-off event for Manifest 2009, held on Feb. 23, was intended to be energetic and enthusiastic,” Carter said in the statement sent to The Chronicle on March 6 as an advertisement. “Unfortunately, the opening presentations by two senior college administrators were not in keeping with the expected decorum and behavior of senior leaders of this institution.  Their actions shifted the focus away from our students and their work.”

The Chronicle was not present at the meeting. The presentations were filmed by Frequency TV for Manifest promotional purposes. Chris West, operations manager of Frequency TV, said the tape from the event was later requested by Carter’s office.  After requesting to view the tape,  The Chronicle was allowed to view the footage in Carter’s office on the sixth floor of the Alexandroff Campus Center,  600 S. Michigan Ave.

Yvonne Sode, executive assistant to the president, then released a statement on Carter’s behalf.

“[Carter] will not release the footage, as the behavior demonstrated is not condoned,” Sode said. “He does support freedom of press and speech; however, he believes further exposure of the video’s contents would serve no good purpose. After viewing the video, you can decide whether the incident is newsworthy.”

A viewing of the tape revealed the following: During his introduction at the Manifest Kick-Off Meeting in the Conaway Center at the 1104 Center, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., Kelly told the crowd that he was “not feeling quite comfortable, so I need to get comfortable” and proceeded to remove his button-up shirt, revealing his bare chest, while laughter and applause could be heard from the crowd. He then changed into a Manifest 2009 T-shirt at the podium he was standing at and continued with his presentation.

Shortly thereafter, Nichols walked up to the podium to speak. She removed a scarf from around her neck, took off her jacket and said “I just want to show you something.”

Nichols then removed her bra from underneath her long-sleeved blouse, held it up and said, “This is the Manifest color this year […] Mark didn’t give me a T-shirt.”

After placing her bra on the podium, Nichols then said, “Mark, I want to see the color of your underwear.” Kelly is heard saying something inaudible off-camera, to which Nichols said “Oh, he’s not wearing any.”

Mark Kelly later told The Chronicle he was just trying to get students “into the spirit” of Manifest at the kick-off meeting.

“I am only aware that I had one complaint about what I was doing at the meeting,” he said. “I was just the coach putting on the jersey. That’s what I was trying to do.”

Nichols did not return several messages from The Chronicle for comment.

Ellen Krutz, vice president of Human Resources, said she could not discuss details about the incident but could confirm that a complaint was filed with Human Resources and is currently under review. In most cases, Krutz said complaints filed with Human Resources are investigated by herself or one of her staffers. A complaint can be resolved with the supervisor and the employee, but sometimes it may need to go up higher levels, including the General Counsel, the Provost’s Office or the president’s office.

“It really depends on the circumstances of the situation,” she said. “Usually our focus is to keep the circle small, unless there’s some reason for it to be bigger. But it’s entirely possible that more than one complaint is received in more than one area.”

Although it’s not clear why the incident was brought to the Office of the General Counsel, Annice Kelly, vice president and general counsel, said she could not comment on specific situations, as everything she does or says is protected by attorney-client privilege.

“There is a tape, so it is what it is. I can tell you that the school doesn’t condone that kind of behavior,” she said. “The college over the years has dealt with many kinds of conduct issues, and we have dealt with them appropriately. Each one is very circumstantial, fact-specific, so there isn’t a hard and fast response to anything. Everything gets judged on its own merits and in its own circumstances.”

In his statement provided to The Chronicle on March 6, Carter also apologized on behalf of the college for the officials’ actions.

“I apologize to any members of the college community that were offended by these actions. Both of the administrators accept the responsibility for their actions and the consequences associated with them.”

Although she could not comment on this specific matter, Annice Kelly said consequences employers impose on employees for incidents can vary.

“Not talking about this specific [matter], any employer always has the range of the proverbial slap on the wrist, which would be like an oral warning all the way up to termination,” she said. “That’s the range that any employer has.”

The incident is still under review, and no consequences had been imposed as of March 6. But Carter said in his statement, “I know they are strong leaders and will continue to provide leadership and make important contributions to the college.”

More than 200 guests attended the Manifest kick-off meeting, where students and faculty presented plans and goals for the festivities in May. Ayisha Jaffer, president of the Student Programming Board, was at the meeting and said because Columbia is all about “innovation, surprises and creativity,” she didn’t think the behavior exhibited by Mark Kelly was inappropriate.

“Seeing Mark Kelly—this really professional guy—get crazy and get into it just made me think, ‘Wow, how crazy is Manifest going to get this year?’” she said. “It was very Columbia of Mark.”