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American Morning
Interview With Accused Hazer Liat Gendelman
Aired May 27, 2003 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We turn to that hazing incident that happened earlier this month in suburban Chicago that hit the national press. Thirty-one students at Glenbrook North High School who are accused of taking part in this event are being expelled from the school. Word came in yesterday in a letter from the school, and last week the school offered these students a deal that would let them graduate, but not everyone took the deal.
Liat Gendelman did not accept the offer because she said she didn't participate in the incident. She joins us this morning with her mother, Phyllis, and their attorney Dolores Ayala.
Ladies, thank you very much for your time this morning.
Liat, let me ask you, first of all, why is it that you turned down this offer from the school?
LIAT GENDELMAN, ACCUSED HAZER: I feel like it violated my rights.
HARRIS: How? In what way?
GENDELMAN: Well, just constitutional rights.
HARRIS: Can you explain that one to us? Were you actually there at event? Were you there at the football game?
DOLORES AYALA, ATTORNEY: Let me help Liat, because that involves a legal question. The rights that she's talking about are constitutional rights, due process rights. The agreement also asks that she consent to an expulsion and that all allegations against her be deemed admitted, and she felt that those rights were ones that she was not prepared to waive.
HARRIS: Which allegations were those? Can you be specific about those?
AYALA: The three allegations that the school used to support their disciplinary actions were, one, assault and battery, two, violation of the public laws regarding hazing, which laws were very vague, we never knew what they really were talking about, and third, membership in a secret society, even more vague and ambiguous.
The agreement asks that the students who sign that allow those allegations to be deemed admitted, and Liat wants to have her day in court. She said, I'll go through an expulsion hearing and force the school officials to prove that I engaged in those activities. HARRIS: So you're saying...
AYALA: It should be noted that...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: But you were there at the football game? You were there when the hazing took place?
GENDELMAN: Right.
HARRIS: Well...
GENDELMAN: I mean, a lot of people were there. There were probably hundred -- like 150 people.
HARRIS: So, were you there in the crowd or were you on the outside of it, watching everything from a distance?
GENDELMAN: Well, I was watching sometimes and -- well, I mean, I had a yellow jersey on, but I wasn't any of the violent girls, and I just don't feel like my level of participation should have resulted in expulsion.
HARRIS: Did you know what was going to happen that day?
GENDELMAN: No, I don't think anyone did.
HARRIS: So you had no idea what was going...
GENDELMAN: I think hazing...
HARRIS: Let me ask you...
GENDELMAN: Right, well...
HARRIS: I am sorry. Go ahead.
GENDELMAN: Go ahead.
HARRIS: There were also reports that there was alcohol there and that some of the kids may have been drinking beer. Do you know that to be true or not, and do know who brought it there?
GENDELMAN: No comment.
HARRIS: Phyllis, what did you have to say about all of this? I want to know what you think and what you thought about all this when you found out what had happened, and you saw this videotape that played out on all of the media outlets across the country, and that, finally, your daughter was involved somehow.
PHYLLIS GENDELMAN, MOTHER OF ACCUSED HAZER: I thought it was disgraceful.
HARRIS: On whose part? P. GENDELMAN: On all the girls' part. I thought the whole videotape, what happened was disgraceful. I knew -- when she got home, she had told me what happened when she got home. So I was aware before it even hit the air of -- that something pretty awful had happened.
HARRIS: So where do you go next with this? You are going to be -- you have hired an attorney. Are you going to be suing the school for something? What are you asking for?
P. GENDELMAN: Well, the whole purpose of this was that Liat's participation was minimal. I have looked at the videotape, I have seen what her participation was, and what she did wasn't anything that wasn't consented to. I don't feel that what she did warrants expulsion, and basically that's the whole thing in a nutshell, is what she did and what some of the other girls did or did not do, did not warrant expulsion. They just lumped everybody together.
HARRIS: Does this mean, then, that -- Liat, you're not going to get your diploma?
L. GENDELMAN: No, I'm going to.
HARRIS: You will get your diploma?
L. GENDELMAN: Yes.
HARRIS: All right. Well, we thank you very much for coming out and talking with us about it this morning. We will continue to follow this very interesting story, and the way it's playing out, it's been impossible to predict. We thank you very much for telling us about this next step this morning. Phyllis Gendelman, Liat Gendelman, and Dolores Ayala. Thank you all very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 27, 2003 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We turn to that hazing incident that happened earlier this month in suburban Chicago that hit the national press. Thirty-one students at Glenbrook North High School who are accused of taking part in this event are being expelled from the school. Word came in yesterday in a letter from the school, and last week the school offered these students a deal that would let them graduate, but not everyone took the deal.
Liat Gendelman did not accept the offer because she said she didn't participate in the incident. She joins us this morning with her mother, Phyllis, and their attorney Dolores Ayala.
Ladies, thank you very much for your time this morning.
Liat, let me ask you, first of all, why is it that you turned down this offer from the school?
LIAT GENDELMAN, ACCUSED HAZER: I feel like it violated my rights.
HARRIS: How? In what way?
GENDELMAN: Well, just constitutional rights.
HARRIS: Can you explain that one to us? Were you actually there at event? Were you there at the football game?
DOLORES AYALA, ATTORNEY: Let me help Liat, because that involves a legal question. The rights that she's talking about are constitutional rights, due process rights. The agreement also asks that she consent to an expulsion and that all allegations against her be deemed admitted, and she felt that those rights were ones that she was not prepared to waive.
HARRIS: Which allegations were those? Can you be specific about those?
AYALA: The three allegations that the school used to support their disciplinary actions were, one, assault and battery, two, violation of the public laws regarding hazing, which laws were very vague, we never knew what they really were talking about, and third, membership in a secret society, even more vague and ambiguous.
The agreement asks that the students who sign that allow those allegations to be deemed admitted, and Liat wants to have her day in court. She said, I'll go through an expulsion hearing and force the school officials to prove that I engaged in those activities. HARRIS: So you're saying...
AYALA: It should be noted that...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: But you were there at the football game? You were there when the hazing took place?
GENDELMAN: Right.
HARRIS: Well...
GENDELMAN: I mean, a lot of people were there. There were probably hundred -- like 150 people.
HARRIS: So, were you there in the crowd or were you on the outside of it, watching everything from a distance?
GENDELMAN: Well, I was watching sometimes and -- well, I mean, I had a yellow jersey on, but I wasn't any of the violent girls, and I just don't feel like my level of participation should have resulted in expulsion.
HARRIS: Did you know what was going to happen that day?
GENDELMAN: No, I don't think anyone did.
HARRIS: So you had no idea what was going...
GENDELMAN: I think hazing...
HARRIS: Let me ask you...
GENDELMAN: Right, well...
HARRIS: I am sorry. Go ahead.
GENDELMAN: Go ahead.
HARRIS: There were also reports that there was alcohol there and that some of the kids may have been drinking beer. Do you know that to be true or not, and do know who brought it there?
GENDELMAN: No comment.
HARRIS: Phyllis, what did you have to say about all of this? I want to know what you think and what you thought about all this when you found out what had happened, and you saw this videotape that played out on all of the media outlets across the country, and that, finally, your daughter was involved somehow.
PHYLLIS GENDELMAN, MOTHER OF ACCUSED HAZER: I thought it was disgraceful.
HARRIS: On whose part? P. GENDELMAN: On all the girls' part. I thought the whole videotape, what happened was disgraceful. I knew -- when she got home, she had told me what happened when she got home. So I was aware before it even hit the air of -- that something pretty awful had happened.
HARRIS: So where do you go next with this? You are going to be -- you have hired an attorney. Are you going to be suing the school for something? What are you asking for?
P. GENDELMAN: Well, the whole purpose of this was that Liat's participation was minimal. I have looked at the videotape, I have seen what her participation was, and what she did wasn't anything that wasn't consented to. I don't feel that what she did warrants expulsion, and basically that's the whole thing in a nutshell, is what she did and what some of the other girls did or did not do, did not warrant expulsion. They just lumped everybody together.
HARRIS: Does this mean, then, that -- Liat, you're not going to get your diploma?
L. GENDELMAN: No, I'm going to.
HARRIS: You will get your diploma?
L. GENDELMAN: Yes.
HARRIS: All right. Well, we thank you very much for coming out and talking with us about it this morning. We will continue to follow this very interesting story, and the way it's playing out, it's been impossible to predict. We thank you very much for telling us about this next step this morning. Phyllis Gendelman, Liat Gendelman, and Dolores Ayala. Thank you all very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
