An eight-page paper is the sentence for the SIUC student accused of putting a cooked pig’s head on the hood of Chancellor Walter Wendler’s car in May.

Student Judicial Affairs on Friday censured Garth Kiser, a 28-year-old senior from Murphysboro, and sentenced him to write a paper on how the university spends its tuition and student fee dollars.

Kiser was charged with disorderly conduct while a harassment charge was dropped. Both charges are violations of the university’s Student Conduct Code.

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The paper, which is due Dec. 1, requires Kiser to interview Wendler and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Larry Dietz. Kiser said he plans to appeal the decision but said he would take the opportunity to get a sit-down interview with the chancellor.

“I’ll appeal because I don’t believe that the Student Conduct Code’s definition of disorderly conduct is constitutional,” Kiser said in an e-mail.

SIUC police on Sept. 8 arrested Kiser and accused him of putting a pig’s head on Wendler’s car during the spring semester, along with a poster board stating, “Wendler, stop pigging out on tuition $$!!” University authorities also accused Kiser of sending a mass e-mail that contained a picture of the pig’s head on the car and the typed message, “Next time it won’t be cooked!!!!!”

Kiser has said the chancellor has no sense of humor, a claim that Wendler denied Friday.

“It’s not that I can’t take a joke. I take jokes every day. I’ve been told I’m too jocular at times,” Wendler said.

Wendler said he could have looked past the pig head incident if the mass e-mail had not been sent.

“It wasn’t a threat, but again, it was something that normal people would say, ‘Gee, that doesn’t sound quite right,'” he said.

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On Thursday, Kiser went to Wendler’s office with a box for the chancellor. Inside were farm animal figurines, a package of pork chops, a Wild West toy gun and sheriff’s badge, play hand cuffs and a T-shirt that had on it a picture of the head on the car and the phrase, “Wendler sucks! SIU’s resources dry.”

Wendler was at the SIU Board of Trustees meeting and not in the office. Kiser instead spoke with two office staffers and eventually an SIUC police officer.

Wendler said his position calls for a certain amount of “teasing and chiding,” but he was upset Kiser made his office workers feel uncomfortable.

“I understand that’s part of the job, but those people aren’t paid to put up with that stuff,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s right. It’s rude and inconsiderate.”

Kiser has yet to hear word on whether a criminal charge of disorderly conduct was dropped in Jackson County court. The county’s online court database has no record of disorderly conduct for Kiser.

The state’s attorney’s office on Sept. 28 wrote Kiser a $75 check as reimbursement for his bond.

Wendler said he is always open to comments and criticism.

“The more thoughtful and rational the concerns are and the way they’re expressed, the more likely that everybody will pay attention to them,” he said.

Wayne Utterback contributed to this report. Brandon Weisenberger can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or [email protected].