USC moving backmost Kenan Christon held a property league Tuesday extracurricular the Galen Center alleging the assemblage had discriminated against him successful its handling of a pupil behaviour violation.
Christon apologized for his behaviour during the incident, successful which helium and different pupil got into a verbal altercation earlier Christon enactment the different pupil successful a headlock. For this incident, Christon has been suspended from the shot and way and tract teams until Dec. 14, 2022.
Christon has not played successful a azygous shot crippled for USC this season, and has not been allowed to signifier with the team.
“It was a large misunderstanding betwixt maine and the different student. I conscionable privation to accidental again I’m sorry,” Christon said, household and teammates from the way squad lasting down him. “Overall, it seems similar this is conscionable stopping my future. It doesn’t look fair. It doesn’t look similar this is astir who’s close and who’s wrong, I consciousness similar due to the fact that I americium a idiosyncratic of color.”
Added societal activistic Najee Ali, “We’re not making this racial, but it is what it is. The achromatic pupil walked distant with thing happening to him, but the achromatic student-athletes person been suspended and had punishment imposed upon them that is precise harsh.”
In the incident, arsenic described successful a transcript of Christon’s entreaty of his punishment obtained by the Southern California News Group, Christon had asked the different pupil to halt communicating with Christon’s girlfriend. Christon and his woman asked for the different student’s code truthful they could conscionable and resoluteness the situation, but the different pupil provided a fake code Sept. 4.
The adjacent day, Christon and the different pupil met successful the parking batch of the student’s flat building. Christon maintained this gathering was coincidental, portion the different pupil alleged that Christon was waiting for him to appear.
Andrew Barton, the serviceman who investigated the incidental for USC’s Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards, concluded it was “more likely” that the different student’s relationship was accurate, though determination was nary video grounds to backmost up either claim.
During the altercation, Christon damaged spot of the different pupil and enactment him successful a headlock. Soon after, USC’s Department of Public Safety responded to the country but declined to record immoderate charges. Both students person since apologized to each other, per Christon’s appeal.
After a six-week investigation, Christon was fixed a 14-month suspension from athletics portion the different pupil was not punished. Christon appealed the punishment but has not received an reply successful the period since submission.
“The probe was focused lone connected Kenan and not connected the different student,” Christon’s attorney, Anton Diffenderfer, said astatine Tuesday’s property conference.
In a assemblage statement, USC said, “We person looked astatine this successful enactment with assemblage argumentation and person taken due action. We are incapable to speech astir the details due to the fact that of pupil privateness laws.”
Diffenderfer alleged USC’s probe was flawed, stating that video grounds and surface shots of conversations were not taken into account. In his appeal, Christon alleged that Barton interviewed the different pupil lone erstwhile and did not question him astir Christon’s mentation of events.
In his appeal, Christon laid retired his volition to question choler absorption counseling and reiterated that helium has nary past past of carnal unit astatine USC.
“We conscionable don’t deliberation helium deserves this, the benignant of idiosyncratic that helium is, however hard he’s worked to get here,” his mother, Persephonie, said done tears Tuesday. “Yes, I recognize that everything has repercussions, but Kenan has suffered severely astatine this constituent and we conscionable privation to cognize erstwhile this is going to beryllium over.”
Diffenderfer did not outline what the adjacent steps are successful this process, expressing anticipation that USC reconsiders the punishment aft reviewing Christon’s appeal. But helium expressed vexation with however the pupil judicial process has been established astatine USC.
“The afloat probe process, there’s nary oversight. The researcher gives charges and past they submit. You don’t entreaty it, that’s it,” Diffenderfer said. “They springiness the students 10 days to [appeal and] combat for their lives, their careers, everything. It was astir intolerable for maine to bash successful 10 days, with the grounds and the facts that we had. So it’s a wholly rigged system, it’s rigged to fail.”
Ali added, “Kenan wants to enactment present and beryllium a portion of the Trojan family, but helium tin lone bash that if he’s treated fairly.”