I raised my hand to ask a question in class and my teacher had escorted out by security.

A Turning Tide

Kevin put his pen down and looked at me for a long moment. Then he stood up and said he needed to discuss something with his supervisor.

I heard the door to another office open and close. Voices carried through the thin walls, but I couldn’t make out specific words.

Then a woman’s voice got louder, asking questions that sounded pointed. The door opened and a woman in a security uniform with more badges on it came in.

Kevin followed behind her. She introduced herself as the head of campus security and asked Kevin to summarize the situation.

He went through everything. The classroom incident, the professor calling before any disruption happened, and the pills appearing right on top of my other belongings.

He mentioned my explanation about the roommate situation. The security head’s face got more and more uncomfortable as he talked.

She asked why the professor had called security before actually finding anything concerning. Kevin said he didn’t know; that seemed unusual to him too.

The other guard who’d been with Kevin came in. The security head asked him if he’d noticed anything odd about the situation.

He admitted that the professor had seemed really eager for them to search my bag like she was expecting to find something. The security head made a note and said this needed more investigation before any decisions were made.

She told me I could make one phone call now. I pulled out my phone and tried calling my mom.

It rang five times and went to voicemail. I tried again, same thing.

I tried a third time, and then I remembered she’d mentioned she had surgery rotations today and wouldn’t be able to answer her phone. My hands started shaking again.

I was completely alone in this. I sat in that tiny office accused of stealing money and having drugs, and nobody even knew where I was or what was happening to me.

The security head saw my face and told me to take a few deep breaths. She said they were going to continue investigating and figure out what actually happened here.

I wanted to believe her, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was stacked against me. I sat there for another 20 minutes just staring at the wall and listening to my phone buzz.

Then I heard the front door of the security office open and someone talking to the desk officer. A male voice I recognized. Jeremy from my economics class.

I heard him say he needed to speak with someone about what happened in class today. The desk officer asked him what this was regarding.

Jeremy said he’d recorded the whole thing on his phone because something felt really wrong about how the professor was acting. My heart jumped.

Someone had actually recorded it. Kevin must have heard too because his door opened immediately.

He came out and asked Jeremy to come with him. I heard them go into a different room and the door closed.

For a while, I couldn’t hear anything, then muffled voices started up. Jeremy’s voice explaining something, Kevin asking questions.

This went on for about 20 minutes. Then Jeremy’s voice got louder saying something about how it was obvious the professor had it out for me from the start.

Kevin’s door opened and I heard his footsteps going quickly down the hall to where the security head’s office was. He knocked and went in.

More muffled conversation, then the security head’s voice saying something sharp. Kevin came back out and I heard him ask Jeremy if he could send him that video right away.

“Sure.” Jeremy said.

And I heard the little whoosh sound of a message sending. Kevin went back to the security head’s office and knocked again.

He went in and closed the door. I pressed my ear against my door trying to hear what they were saying.

The security head’s voice sounded troubled. She said something about reviewing the footage immediately, then she said something about student affairs and administrative review.

My door suddenly opened and I jumped back. The security head stood there with her phone in her hand.

She told me to come with her to her office. I followed her down the hall and she gestured for me to sit in a chair across from her desk.

She pulled up a video on her phone and started watching it. Her frown got deeper and deeper as it played.

I could hear my own voice from the video asking why security was called, then the professor’s voice cutting me off. The security head watched the whole thing twice.

Then she picked up her desk phone and dialed a number. She asked whoever answered if someone from student affairs could come to the security office right away.

She said they had a situation that needed immediate administrative review. She used the words “concerning elements” and “possible misconduct.”

She hung up and looked at me. She said someone would be here soon to help me navigate this process.

She explained that there were some serious questions about how the situation had been handled. I asked what that meant.

She said she couldn’t discuss details of an ongoing investigation, but that I should know my rights had potentially been violated. My phone buzzed again and I looked down at it.

Another message from someone asking if I really stole money. Another Instagram notification showing Lily’s post was up to 300 likes now.

I felt sick. The security head told me to try to stay calm, that they were going to sort this out properly.

I wanted to believe her, but everything felt like it was spiraling completely out of control. We sat there in silence for about 15 minutes.

Then the front door opened again and I heard a woman’s voice asking for the head of security. Kevin directed her back to the office.

A woman in her 30s wearing a blazer and carrying a leather bag came in. She introduced herself as Harper Moore from Student Advocacy Services.