What was supposed to be a Sherlock Holmes-style field trip to an abandoned hospital ended in the unexpected trespassing arrests of 23 University students and Justin Gifford, their graduate instructor.
Charges against the class members were dropped Tuesday, but University officials yesterday met to discuss Gifford's role in the incident, and Gifford said his fate at the University still is undecided.
"It's still up in the air as to what's going to happen to me," Gifford said.
While he is unsure what sanction might be levied against him, Gifford said he was told by his dean that it is unlikely he will be fired.
Gifford and his students, members of an American Detective Mystery Fiction class, were detained for trespassing at the abandoned Blue Ridge Hospital last week.
The building is a former tuberculosis hospital, owned by the University Foundation, at the base of Monticello Mountain near the intersection of Interstate 64 and Route 20, University Foundation Executive Director Tim Rose said.
Gifford said he took his Detective Fiction class to the hospital because the class was studying the meaning of the word "haunting," and discussions eventually led to abandoned buildings.
"We heard about it through Web sites where various urban explorer types had gone through and taken pictures," Gifford said. "We thought it was owned by U.Va. and it was just meant to be a fun field trip."
Gifford said he was still inside the hospital when he first saw the police.
"Talk about a moment of pure haunting -- all of your students are sitting on the ground being issued citations by the police," Gifford said.
The Foundation initially pressed charges against all 24 individuals involved. The charges were dropped in court Tuesday.
"My initial reaction was concern for these folks going out there -- the buildings are in disrepair, there is broken glass everywhere and it is very dangerous," Rose added.
He said the hospital is part of an area with about 40 buildings that are in disrepair.
"This has happened before and it is an ongoing problem," Rose said.
He said there are numerous signs indicating "No Trespassing" and the presence of harmful asbestos.
The individuals were detained on the scene and each was issued a summons to appear in court the following Tuesday. They were charged with trespassing, which is a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500, said Robert DeLoria, assistant Commonwealth's attorney for Albemarle County.
When DeLoria spoke Tuesday morning with Susan Harris, assistant to the vice president and chief operating officer, she indicated that it was the wish of the University, along with the Foundation, to have the charges dropped against the students, DeLoria said. The Foundation and University had no position in regards to the TA, he added.
The charges then were dismissed upon the payment of court costs, and the students were found not guilty, DeLoria said.
Each student was responsible for paying the $66 court cost.
"My two main goals right now are to protect these kids from any permanent scaring on their records and to have this resolved and have all parties involved satisfied," Gifford said. "I made a mistake, used poor judgment and had I had more information I never would have taken them down there."
Gifford added that he has been in constant correspondence with his students since the incident, including a letter of apology that he wrote Wednesday to the students and their parents.
"We went up there as detectives, and we ended up being the detected," Gifford said.
He said they spent the following class period discussing lessons learned and everyone's favorite moments from the day.
"We were all under the assumption that it was University property," fourth-year College student Kim Turner said.
She added that when all is said and done the students all just look back and laugh.
"It's one of those life lessons we just had to learn the hard way," Turner said.
Associate Editor Lauren Todd Pappa contributed to this report.
Read More
New School of Data Science building opens with remarks and ceremony
By Cecilia Mould | 17 hours agoThe four-story, 61,000 square-foot building includes four classrooms and two seminar rooms, as well as a two-story central hub for hosting events.
Democratic Futures Project fellow Félix Maradiaga announces campaign to end arbitrary detention
By Caroline Hagood | 17 hours agoA public website for the campaign launched Friday, which Maradiaga says is the first step towards raising awareness.
HRL preassigns 25 percent of returning resident advisors for 2024-25 academic year
By Cecilia Mould | 21 hours agoSome SRs are upset with this change, with two SRs saying that it has somewhat reduced the relative autonomy they have had when choosing their staff in past years.
