What Happened on the UNA New Mexico Trip?

Remember the UNA Orlando trip during which David B. Dickerson, then billed as Dr. Dickerson, allegedly drugged and raped a student? It made headlines in northwest Alabama and parts of Maryland and Colorado. Nothing like a little good publicity to help a school out, is there? 

Surely our local university is now much more attuned to problems with faculty when away from the campus? How would they handle such an incident now, after the Dickerson lawsuits? 

We don't have an answer to those questions, but we do have some interesting tidbits to add to this PNS article:

Troubling Problems - Greg Gaston

It seems that in June of this year, the geography department and the English department combined forces to visit New Mexico. Everyone has been so secretive about this junket that we don't know if this was a conference or a cultural adventure. Whatever it was, something happened on one of those late June days...something bad, and it involved Dr. Greg Gaston.

On Wednesday, June 20th, Greg Gaston was asked to return to the Shoals. On Friday, June 22nd, he was banned from the university and any of its properties. Remember, this was a man who had worked at UNA for 16 years, held a doctorate (a real one), and was tenured. What kind of behavior had warranted this treatment from UNA?

While we can't answer that, we do have a little bombshell that sheds light on the seriousness of the incident. On June 20th, the university sent an officer, as in public safety officer, to New Mexico presumably to question witnesses. 

Why has the university not provided more information about this incident? The powers that be, and one is led to believe they are Kenneth Kitts and Ross Alexander, have forbidden anyone to speak to the press or anyone else about the matter. We're sure they have cited ongoing lawsuits, etc., as a valid reason for their silence. Yet as many have pointed out, this is a public/state university, and much of this information should be under the domain of the public records law.

Isn't the ugly truth still better than artfully sealed lips?