Albany

The University at Albany confirmed that the three women who gained national attention after a January CDTA bus incident have been punished by the Student Conduct Board.

Ariel Agudio and Asha Burwell have been dismissed from the university and Alexis Briggs has been suspended for two years, according to an email sent Thursday by President Robert J. Jones to the UAlbany community.

The email, sent out 16 days after UAlbany decided the three women's student conduct cases, was released after the Times Union reported from a confidential letter informing Burwell she had been "disciplinarily dismissed" as of April 19.

Jones stated in the email he was writing to reaffirm UAlbany's commitment to accountability.

The women, who are black, said they were attacked by 12 to 20 people on a CDTA bus Jan. 30. Their accusations gained national attention, but they have since been charged for making the story up and in fact starting the fight.

The three were indicted by a grand jury and arraigned for 10 misdemeanor charges, including assault, attempted assault and false reporting, along with a violation for harassment.

The decision to dismiss the students came through a student conduct board, which is separate from the criminal justice system.

A hearing before a student conduct board is scheduled when a student is facing suspension, dismissal, removal from residence or at the discretion of an administrator.

The three did not appear for their scheduled student conduct board hearing March 9, as their lawyers cited a conflict of interest in which UAlbany served as judge in the board hearings and witness in the criminal case.

In their absence, only two witnesses spoke at the hearing, according to a confidential letter recapping the hearing.

One witness was Inspector Paul Burlingame of the University Police Department, who cited video, audio, witness interviews, and more than 300 hours of investigation as he testified to the board that the three women started the fight.

"There is absolutely no evidence which supports Ms. Burwell's version of events that the incident was precipitated by a female passenger hitting Ms. Burwell while Ms. Burwell was seated," Burlingame said, "and in fact, there is no video evidence showing Ms. Burwell being struck by anyone at all."

Because the incident was first reported as a hate crime, Burlingame testified that victims of the assault did not come forward at first as they feared for their safety.

Only when they learned there was video of the incident did they reach out, Burlingame said.

Two students withdrew from school due to the incident, Burlingame testified at the hearing.

"One of the female victims," Burlingame said, "withdrew out of concern for her physical safety."

Burlingame said another student withdrew, "having been the target of threats made on social media because of the false reports made by (the women) of his having participated in an alleged hate crime.

In March, the Times Union reported that a student widely reported to have left school after being threatened was never registered at the university this semester.

The only other witness at the hearing was by Joseph Brennan, a UAlbany vice president of communications and marketing, who testified that the school suffered "reputational harm" as a result of the conduct of the three women.

Brennan testified that the women's actions impacted the school's recruiting and created a disruption that exceeded that of "floods, hurricanes, power outages and fatalities" he had encountered in his 25-year career. He said UAlbany has already received notifications from families that they would not send their children to "such a place" and that his office has had to cancel production of a fundraising video and a social media campaign as a result of the three women's actions.

In a letter responding to the women's dismissal, Burwell's lawyer Frederick Brewington said testimony against his client was filled with "Trumpisms."

Brewington said those at the hearing were not given evidence that may have contradicted Burlingame's account, and that his client was unable to defend herself due to the school's conflict of interest.

Brewington also alleged that Burlingame misrepresented the content of his witness interviews, and that "at least one of the interviewed witnesses heard other students confirm that Ms. Burwell and the other ladies were called (a racial epithet)."

Brewington noted Burwell had already withdrawn before she had been given a hearing and then dismissed.

jlawrence@timesunion.com • 518-454-5467 • @jplawrence3