Take the situation earlier this year at the University of Iowa College of Medicine for example. A number of students came forward to report highly inflammatory anti-Christian and anti-Mormon remarks being made by professors during instructional time. Unfortunately, due to petty political biases and an overall disinterest in dealing with this major problem, the school responded to these students with a callous indifference.

In fact, one administrator even responded to a student by suggesting that the reason she got frustrated after being verbally abused by an instructor was that she was just "depressed". To this date, these students have been denied any resolution to this unacceptable faculty behavior simply because of the biases of the inept administration at the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

Now, three students at the State University of New York at New Paltz have been accused of harassment by Director of Residential Life Corrina Caracci. In a formal accusation she filed with the police, Ms. Caracci stated that R.J. Partington, Justin Holmes, and Dan Curtis encircled her in the hallway, screamed at her, and confined her movement to the point where she could not move "on her own free will". As a result of these accusations, Holmes was arrested and suspended from school for one year while Partington was actually expelled.

There's only one problem with this situation: a large part of the incident was caught on video tape and clearly proves that Ms. Caracci's version of this story is far from accurate. In fact, her deposition and formal accusation bear shockingly little resemblance to the events in the video, outside of the names of the people involved.

For example, she accuses Partington, Holmes, and Curtis of encircling her and yelling at her in a "threatening manner". Contrary to Caracci's claims, the video shows the students randomly dispersed throughout the hallway with Curtis leaning back against the wall and Partington lazily resting his hands on his head. It is absolutely impossible that either student could be accurately described as standing in an aggressive position.

Later in her complaint, Caracci claims that she was confined and her movement through the hallway was restricted during the incident. However, throughout the entire length of the video, it can be seen very clearly that Ms. Caracci had a 100% unobstructed path to the doorway of the room where her next meeting was held. Not only was she not confined, there were no objects whatsoever in between her and her destination.

Equally damaging to Caracci's credibility is the fact that, when the defendants began to leave the area, she actually followed them in order to extend the discussion. By any measure, that is not exactly the reaction one would expect from the intimidated, helpless victim that she has tried to make herself out to be. After comparing this aspect of the complaint with the video tape, the only reasonable conclusion that can be reached is that Corrina Caracci is flat-out lying when she claims that these students restricted her movement.

Unfortunately, that is of no importance at SUNY. Partington and Holmes were still punished extremely harshly and denied access to their due process rights because some school administrators were upset with them for criticizing university policy while working in student government.

When asked about why the students were punished despite evidence exonerating them, a SUNY spokesman claimed that the video tape was not an accurate representation of what happened. The school has yet to explain how an unedited video of the actual event could distort the situation. Regardless, SUNY decided to ruin the academic careers of these two students anyway.

As things stand currently, political biases at the University of Iowa are continuing to allow several hate-filled instructors to continue using their positions as an opportunity to express their religious bigotry. Meanwhile, the State University of New York has chosen to virtually destroy the academic careers of two students just because a few administrators disapproved of their campus activism. This practice of manipulating the disciplinary systems on college campuses as a tool to further personal political agendas is a total disgrace and cannot continue to be tolerated. It's time for Americans to stand up to universities across the country and demand that they respect the rights of every student on campus.

Chad Kent is a freelance writer and political commentator who lives in central Illinois.