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| | Friday, September 15 School president's wife pleads for peace | |||||
| Associated Press BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Peg Brand, wife of Indiana University president Myles Brand, pleaded for an end to the threats on her family and others linked to the firing of basketball coach Bob Knight. "My friends and people I love are being individually singled out and targeted in a malicious way," she said Thursday at a news conference outside the Brand's campus home. "We are being portrayed all over the country as a campus out of control," said Brand, a philosophy professor at Indiana. More than 2,000 students marched in protest after Knight's firing was announced Sunday, knocking over light poles outside the president's campus residence and burning effigies. Peg Brand said the threats have continued despite Knight's call for calm Wednesday, leaving her feeling afraid on campus. "I have been forced to teach my class with a policeman at my side," she said. "This is not right." Freshman Kent Harvey, whose run-in with Knight near Assembly Hall sparked the events that led to the coach's dismissal, has also been the target of angry fans. Harvey's name was written on a flag that was burned, and a dummy that represented him was hung from a tree. Students have been wearing "Kill Kent" T-shirts and passing out "Wanted: Dead or Alive" posters bearing Harvey's image. Harvey, 19, has received about 500 angry e-mail messages. "I never expected this to happen in my life," Harvey told the Indiana Daily Student. "All I wanted to do was get an education. I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Harvey and his brothers, Kevin and Kyle, who are triplets, are out of town, deciding whether or not they'll return. Knight directed students to let Harvey get on with his life. "This thing had happened to me long before that situation took place," Knight said while addressing students Wednesday night. "Believe me, that kid is not responsible for me not coaching at IU." Knight, Indiana's men's basketball coach for 29 years, was fired for what IU officials said were violations of "zero-tolerance" guidelines established in May. The firing came three days after Knight grabbed Harvey by the arm and lectured him on manners when the freshman greeted him by his last name. Brand, who has not stayed at her campus home because of safety concerns, said she decided to speak out after students told her they didn't feel safe expressing opinions about the situation that might be unpopular. "They told me they're afraid," she said. Brand also said she was calling on Karen Knight, Bob Knight's wife, "to join me in restoring calm and civility to our community." | ALSO SEE Indiana trustees pass code of conduct in wake of Knight Pacers' Thomas restates desire to team with Knight Hoosiers name Davis interim coach Ousted General: Knight fired for unacceptable behavior | |||||