Opinion ID: 1525627
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Godfrey's claims

Text: Beth Godfrey enrolled at the Seminary in 2000 to pursue a Masters of Divinity degree. She was attracted by the Seminary's small community atmosphere, and described the Seminary as a very small place where student housing, the President's office, administrative offices, and the dining hall are all in close proximity. During her time at the Seminary, Godfrey resided in on-campus student housing and held part-time positions as a photographer and, later, as an assistant in the Seminary's financial aid and admissions offices. She served on the Board of Students during her first year of enrollment, and she also actively participated in Friday Night Fellowship (FNF) gatherings  weekly student-run worship services that often included guest speakers. Many of the functions that Godfrey attended occurred at the Mackay Campus Center (Campus Center), which housed the Seminary's main dining facility and was the locus of many of the Seminary's public and private events. It was at the Campus Center that Godfrey first came into contact with Miller. In the fall of 2000, Godfrey, who was then twenty-five years old, entered the Campus Center cafeteria to eat dinner. At a nearby table, Godfrey noticed a friend conversing with a person whom Godfrey believed to be a retired professor or someone affiliated with the Seminary community. That individual, to whom Godfrey was introduced after she joined the table, was Miller. Godfrey next saw Miller at the first FNF gathering that followed their introduction at the Campus Center. Although Godfrey could not recall whether Miller had attended prior FNF gatherings, she found his presence peculiar because, aside from the guest speakers, only Seminary students generally attended FNF gatherings. Miller participated in the worship service and in discussion groups that formed after the gathering concluded. Godfrey saw Miller at three or four subsequent FNF gatherings. In December 2000, Godfrey had direct contact with Miller at an annual, formal Christmas dinner at the Campus Center. The dinner, which is followed by caroling and dancing, is a Seminary community event usually attended by students, their families, administrators, and faculty. During the dinner-portion of the evening, Godfrey excused herself from a table of her friends and proceeded to a line that had formed at the dessert bar. Miller approached Godfrey from behind, placed his hand on her shoulder, and said Beth. Godfrey turned, expecting to see one of her friends, but instead saw Miller. Godfrey said, Hello, and Miller then clasped Godfrey's hand in both of his hands and said, It's so good to see you here this evening. Godfrey retracted her hand, at which time Miller invited Godfrey to accompany him to a concert across town later that evening. Godfrey refused, and turned to proceed in line toward the dessert bar. Miller followed, and continued, [O]h come on. It's going to be a beautiful concert. You know, I have these tickets. It's going to be a lovely evening and I'd like to share it ... with you. Godfrey again refused, telling Miller that she planned to go with her friends to the caroling and the dance. Godfrey took a dessert from the dessert bar and returned to her friends where she reported her interaction with Miller. Later that evening, Godfrey saw Miller at the caroling, which occurred in a separate room in the Campus Center after the dinner. Godfrey was stationed across the room from Miller, but Miller proceeded to walk[ ] within ... [a few] feet of [her]. In an effort to avoid Miller, Godfrey walked all the way around the room ... to the other side [so that Miller] wouldn't follow [her]. No further interaction occurred between Godfrey and Miller that evening. The following week, Godfrey was with a friend at a Hallmark store in a local mall when Godfrey saw Miller. Godfrey attempted to avoid Miller's detection by moving to the other side of the store, but when her friend beckoned Godfrey to view an item in the store, Miller was alerted to Godfrey's presence. Miller approached and said, Good evening, Beth. Godfrey said, Hello, and moved toward her friend, who then introduced herself to Miller. Godfrey's friend completed her purchase shortly thereafter, and Godfrey and her friend left the store. Godfrey did not have any further contact with Miller until she returned to the Seminary in January after the two-week Christmas break. In her accumulated mail, Godfrey received a package from Miller that, peculiarly, was addressed to Godfrey's dormitory room rather than to her campus mailbox. [3] Godfrey had not told Miller where she lived, and she presumed that an individual at the campus post office recognized Godfrey's name and placed the package with her mail. Inside the package was a card that read, Dear Beth, and went on to provide a lengthy account of Miller's personal life and information about his holiday plans. The parcel also contained a package of Winnie the Pooh note cards. Although disturbed by Miller's behavior, Godfrey sent a concise, polite note stating, Thank you for the card and the note cards.... May you sense God's peace in Jesus Christ this Christmas. Godfrey then discarded the contents of Miller's package. Thereafter, Godfrey stopped attending FNF gatherings and took other steps to avoid areas where she expected that Miller might be present. Godfrey did not have further direct interaction with Miller until the summer of 2001. At that time, Godfrey resided at the CRW apartments in a building across the street from that which housed Miller. While standing in a line of students in the Campus Center cafeteria, Miller approached Godfrey from behind and tapped her. When Godfrey turned, Miller said, Hello, Beth. Godfrey said, Hello, and turned away. Miller then invited Godfrey to have lunch with him. When Godfrey refused, Miller responded by asking, [H]ow about I take you out some other day? Godfrey again refused, stating, I would only eat with you if we were in the middle of this cafeteria at a group table with other people. Godfrey then took her lunch and departed. The following Saturday, Godfrey returned to her apartment from a camping trip with fellow students. Among the telephone messages that Godfrey received from family and friends was a message from Miller. In that message, Miller stated that he was delighted to see [Godfrey] in the cafeteria and meet up with [her] again. Miller proceeded to invite Godfrey to a concert that evening. Godfrey did not return the call. Later that day, Miller again phoned Godfrey. He said, in a tone that was more anxious than in his prior call, that he had hoped that Godfrey would call him back. After remarking that he assumed that Godfrey could not attend the concert, Miller invited Godfrey to go to his church service [the following day] and then ... out to lunch. Godfrey again ignored the call. She returned to her apartment later that evening and discovered that Miller had left another telephone message asking her to meet up with [him] to go to church, [and then to go on] a date out to lunch. As with the other messages, she did not respond. The following day, Godfrey left her apartment to attend church, after which she planned to return to her apartment before leaving for New Hope, Pennsylvania, the location of her field internship. After Godfrey had departed, Miller telephoned and left a message on Godfrey's answering machine. Godfrey recalled that, in that message, Miller stated in a more insistent and persistent tone, [Y]ou haven't called me back. And I wanted to go out with you. I wanted to go [to] church with you and well, now, it's too late to go to church. I guess you've probably already gone to your church or something. So, it's too late to go to church. So, I'd like to invite you to go out with me this afternoon to a picnic. I have a great picnic basket. I have, you know, a blanket. It's a concert. We can go. I'll bring some drinks and I'll bring some snacks. And we can go to this picnic and sit together and talk and have companionship. When Godfrey did not respond, Miller telephoned later that afternoon and left a very threatening, very harassing message in which he was very much more inflamed and angry that Godfrey had not returned his calls. Miller said, [Y]ou didn't call me back.... [G]ood Christian women ... call men back when they ask them out. Nevertheless, Miller remained persistent. He said, It's not too late. You just pick up my invitation to go to the picnic with me. We have an hour or so before it's too late. And call me back. Godfrey did not respond. Godfrey resolved to approach Seminary administrators in hopes of securing measures that would shield her from Miller's advances. She proceeded to the administration building to schedule a meeting with the Dean of Students, Jeffrey O'Grady. Godfrey learned that O'Grady was on an extended summer vacation, and when Godfrey pressed her need to speak with someone immediately, she was referred to Kathy Cook Davis, the Student Relations Director. Godfrey was able to meet with Cook Davis that day, and proceeded to inform her about Miller's behavior. Cook Davis was sympathetic, even sharing that Miller had pursued her when she was a student at the Seminary. Cook Davis also informed Godfrey that O'Grady had handled past complaints about Miller, and, therefore, she asked whether Godfrey would wait to pursue her complaint for a couple of weeks, after O'Grady returned. Cook Davis explained that O'Grady was the person best suited to handle the situation. Godfrey acceded, but stated that she would return if any further incidents between her and Miller occurred in the interim.