Grambling Student Leader Placed on Leave After X-Rated Videos Surface

On May 11, the Grambling State University Student Government Association swore in new officers for the 2005–2006 school year. Less than 24 hours later, the SGA president was in jeopardy of losing his position. Thomas Craig, a junior from Detroit, is at the center of a controversy over two pornographic videos that have surfaced.

Photo credit: The Gramblinite Thomas Craig

In the videos, both recorded using a camera phone, a man is shown masturbating to ATL’s “Make It Up With Love." One video is 15 seconds, the other 16 seconds.

The videos were sent using Sprint’s Picture Mail. This put the videos on the Internet and into an interactive photo album, which can be sent to others for viewing.

It is unclear whether Craig is the man in the videos, but an investigation by the Gramblinite shows the videos were originally sent from Craig's cell phone. They eventually reached the e-mail inbox of SGA adviser Audrey Warren.

Warren, university President Dr. Horace A. Judson and Dr. Earnest L. Pickens, vice president of student affairs, met with Craig on May 12 and 13 in closed sessions.

An official statement by the administration issued May 16 said Craig had been placed on administrative leave, which generally is the temporary removal of a job assignment, with pay and benefits intact. As student government president, Craig is paid by the university.

The university statement did not specify the accusations against Craig. It said, “This action will allow time to investigate alleged improprieties by Mr. Craig. While Mr. Craig is on administrative leave, Miss Levicy Crawford will provide leadership to the SGA in her capacity as vice president."

Craig did not comment on the videos, but he did release his own statement.

“If people pushed to help as much as they pushed to hate, this would be a totally different place,” he said in a text message. “These two weeks I have felt more hated than I have in my life.”

Some students were less than pleased when they heard of the incident.

“I think he should lose his job,” freshman Cordell Cook said. “I don’t want anyone to lead me that’s not setting a good example for everybody else.”

Others said they were stunned.

“I am shocked,” freshman Alissa Dawson said. “When you go into a position, you have to be very responsible. You have to make sure the things that you do don’t get out to the public if you’re going to do them.”

Some were sympathetic to Craig.

“If he sent it to one person as a private thing, not the public, it’s not his fault,” sophomore Jarvis L. Fisher said. “If he did mean to put it out there, then it is.”

Craig had no comment on the exact terms of his administrative leave or on Crawford serving in his role.

Darryl D. Smith and Dayna T. Newkirk are students at Grambling State University who write for the Gramblinite.

Posted May 18, 2005