A Georgetown sophomore suspended for physically assaulting another student is back on campus after being granted a new hearing by Georgetown judicial officials.
Vincent “Trey” Martin (MSB ’07) was suspended for one year last semester after being found responsible for an attack on David Riedman (NHS ’07) on March 26 outside the New South residence hall. A counterclaim against Riedman was dismissed by the hearing board.
In an April interview with THE HOYA, Riedman said he had been attacked without provocation in front of New South after he refused to apologize to Martin.
Martin said Riedman had repeatedly made obscene gestures at an earlier basketball game prior to the physical confrontation.
Both students accused the other of being intoxicated and striking out physically first. The March incident left Riedman unconscious and bloodied before he was found by a DPS officer and transported to Georgetown University Hospital by GERMS.
Following the attack Martin was criminally charged with aggravated assault, a felony. The charge was later dropped to simple assault, a misdemeanor.
The original one-year suspension was overturned this summer on appeal after concerns were raised about the fairness of the original disciplinary hearing.
Martin argued that the fact that Riedman’s mother, who works for the university, may have unduly influenced the outcome of the hearing. He also complained that his punishment was unfairly harsh.
Riedman has signed a university confidentiality agreement and declined to comment on the specifics of his case. He said that he had no desire to adjudicate the case further and expressed anger and frustration with Martin and the university judicial system.
“There are people who are threats to others on campus and what the university is doing is silencing people who are victims of crime,” he said. “I was seriously assaulted but the university is saying they’re not going to take a serious stance on that. They have done nothing to make me think that my safety is ensured on this campus.”
Riedman cited the 2001 sexual assault of Kate Dieringer (NHS ’05) and the 2000 death of Georgetown junior David Shick, as examples of Georgetown taking a tepid stance toward student violence.
Dieringer’s attacker was expelled but the sanction was later reduced to a one-year suspension. The responsible individual in the Shick case was originally suspended for a semester but his punishment was eventually mitigated and he ordered to attend alcohol counseling and write a 10-page reflection paper.
“The student body needs to make a push for change in the judicial process,” Riedman said. “It is inevitable this will happen again.”
University spokeswoman Laura Cavender said the university could not comment on individual cases which “may or may not be ongoing as part of its student conduct adjudication process.” But she defended the on-campus judicial system, which she said “operates fairly and with integrity, designed to best serve the educational needs of the university.”
When contacted Tuesday, Martin would not comment except to say that he is “back on campus, enrolled in classes and participating on the baseball team.”
Martin was named Big East player of the week on March 8 but had been unable to suit up for games after the criminal charge on March 30.
“The rules of the university preclude me from saying further anything that happened,” he said.