North Dakota Mom Fights to Make College Campuses Safe for Young Men
Twamley hall University of North Dakota. Jesse Trelstad/ Grand Forks Herald Jonah Mostler
In the Washington Post today is a lengthy profile about Families Advocating for Campus Equality, or FACE, a group founded by a Fargo mom after her son was falsely accused of sexual misconduct at the University of North Dakota.
The mom is Sherry Warner-Seefeld, and her son is Caleb Warner.
I’ve written quite a bit about Warner over the years, most recently when his case became the the genesis for legislation passed during the 2015 session affording students accused of serious misconduct certain due process rights. Such as the right to an attorney.
Legislation the North Dakota University System, to their shame, fought bitterly during the session.
Warner’s case involved UND, even as the accuser was pursued by law enforcement for filing a false police report, refusing to rescind his expulsion. It wasn’t until two years later, after some heavy pressure from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, that the school relented.
What happened to Warner was a travesty, but if there can be said to be a silver lining in it, it’s that it has lead not only to reforms aimed at protecting accused students here in North Dakota but in the creation of FACE and a group of moms-turned-activists like Warner-Seefeld who want to see better protections for students nationally.
By the way, FACE has been around for a while. The group was profiled by the Fargo Forum back in 2014. But it’s nice to see the group getting some national attention as well.
