The Red & Black

After hearing testimony from dorm residents and resident assistants, a judicial panel will decide the fate of a student charged with breaking five University policies.
On Friday, a judicial panel heard the case of Ben Visser, a senior from Blairsville, who was arrested in early March on charges of possession of illegal substances.
Visser’s hearing was the culmination of months of arguments between him and other residents of Hill Hall.
Visser is accused of violating housing procedures, alcohol and drug-related misconduct, assault and disturbing the lives of others.
Visser was arrested on March 2 after University police responded to a complaint and searched his room, finding two pipes and a bag a marijuana. The advocate in the case, Bobby Reece, a freshman from Valdosta, said in his closing statement that Visser had admitted to using marijuana, drinking, and being responsible for drawing cartoons in Hill Hall.
The cartoons poked fun at two people he was in an argument with. The two students, Nathan Reeves, a freshman from Carrolton, and Chris Carney, a sophomore from Macon, also live in Hill Hall and were involved in an argument on March 25.
That argument led to Visser being accused of assaulting a resident assistant at Hill.
The defender in the case, Jessica Frickey, a junior from Hinesville, said that in the argument, Visser did not push anyone, and had been walking away from constant threats and antagonizations all year.
“He was repeatedly antagonized by Reeves and Carney … confronting them was a normal response,” Frickey said.