A phone threat on Oct. 24 has brought about the suspension of two Mississippi State University students and criminal charges against them in the Oktibbeha County Court system. Qieta Worlds, Sharetia Jones and Engrid Roy were arrested and released Oct. 25 on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct. Worlds was arrested Oct. 24, as well, on a charge of telephone harassment, which could be ruled as a felony charge. Roy and Worlds were suspended Tuesday by the student judicial board, while Jones was found to be “not responsible.”
The Reflector contacted Roy, who said she is confused as to why she was connected to the crime.
“I was arrested for disorderly conduct when I was using my freedom of speech,” Roy said.
A press release sent out by MSU University Relations said an anonymous phone call was made to an unidentified recipient warning that “something bad” would happen to Allen Hall.
University officials evacuated the building at 2 p.m. so firefighters could search the administrative building that also houses President Malcolm Portera’s office on the top floor.
The search failed to turn up anything suspicious, and the building readmitted faculty and students shortly after the search.
According to White, Roy and Worlds have 10 calendar days from Tuesday to make an official written appeal to the judicial board. If either or both women fail to make an appeal, they will be suspended during the multi-year term and then will be eligible to attempt readmission to MSU.
Roy said it would be foolish not to appeal because she said she feels she has been wrongly accused in the matter.
Worlds, who was unavailable for comment, said in an interview with The Commercial Dispatch she also feels like she is unfairly being charged for what she called a “good deed.”
The report said Worlds received a telephone call the morning of Oct. 24 from an unidentified caller warning her “something bad would happen at Allen Hall at 2 o’clock.”
Worlds then relayed the message to Allen Hall, and according to Worlds, whoever received the message hung up the phone before she could identify herself.
Worlds said she called Allen Hall to warn them because she said she would have felt guilty if something bad had happened and she had not notified anyone of the possible danger.
The Reflector contacted White’s office before press time to find neither woman had made an official appeal. Both Roy and Worlds have until Nov. 9 to make an appeal. The Reflector will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available.