SORRY, SISTER, IT’S NOT THE “MISIDENTIFICATION” THAT’S THE PROBLEM HERE: ASU lecturer apologizes after misidentifying Covington student: ‘I am horrified.’
An Arizona State University lecturer apologized Wednesday after she incorrectly identified one of the Covington Catholic students on social media and encouraged people to contact the college he planned to attend.
Lillian “Marie” Wallace, who works in ASU’s Leadership and Interdisciplinary Studies department, wrote on Facebook: “The name of the kid in front is [redacted]. They had a post about him on [Covington’s] FB page, saying he wants to be a chef and plans to go to Cincinnati State next year,” according to a screenshot captured by Campus Reform.
Ms. Wallace was actually talking about Nick Sandmann, the Kentucky student from Covington Catholic High School who was at the center of the standoff with Native American elder Nathan Phillips at the March for Life in Washington over the weekend.
Ms. Wallace and others urged people to call Cincinnati State’s admissions office and persuade them not to accept the student. The family of the student, who does attend Covington Catholic but wasn’t in Washington at the time of the rally, said the widespread misinformation resulted in violent threats and harassment.
Ms. Wallace has since deleted her original comment and apologized, writing, “I am now guilty of behaviors I normally disdain,” according to a screenshot captured by Campus Reform.
“I was outraged when I read this and I reposted a post that was NOT correct that had the wrong child’s name in it,” she wrote, Campus Reform reported. “I am horrified at my own behavior as there is a child out there trying to live his life and was wrongly identified. I am now a party [sic] of the cause of his fear and misery. I am so SO so sorry to this young man, [redacted]. I hope somehow I can get a message to him and let him know. I want to publicly apologize to this young man.”
It’s not clear if she realizes this or not, but her behavior would have been just as wrong if she’d been trying to ruin the future of the actual kid she was mad at over false reports that she saw on the Internet.