In light of recent controversy , the UND Student Senate passed a resolution Wednesday in support of the ROTC and is asking a professor who was critical of the program to publicly apologize.
In a letter to the Herald that was published last week , UND professor Heidi Czerwiec recounted seeing gunmen on campus, calling 911 and being told it was an ROTC drill. Czerwiec said in the letter she planned to continue calling law enforcement in similar situations.
The resolution states Czerwiec had the right to speak freely and contact law enforcement but points to a voicemail she left ROTC Col. Clarence Carroll shortly after the incident in which she used profanity. The resolution also states she should be held to a “high moral standard as an educator.”
Czerwiec said Thursday she doesn’t plan to do anything because she already privately apologized to Carroll for her word choice and doesn’t think it’s appropriate to apologize to ROTC cadets for words exchanged with him. She also hasn’t been approached by any ROTC students about the controversy.
“I think it’s over as far as I’m concerned,” Czerwiec said.
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Some were critical of Czerwiec on social media and several blogs after her letter was published and she told the Herald she wished she had been more clear that she would only call 911 if it wasn’t obviously a ROTC drill.
UND Student Body President Matt Kopp said the senate passed the resolution because a lot of students felt strongly about it.
“They’ve been upset and also I think it was worthwhile to support the ROTC,” he said. “I know they’ve been under some heat recently so we wanted to make sure that support was clear.”
Kopp said an apology letter to the Herald or ROTC students would be appropriate.
