Sierra Hubbard, News Editor
Coles College of Business lecturer Joshua Salisbury was arrested April 29, 2015 for battery visible harm after an incident that occurred in March of this year and is currently on administrative leave without pay.
On March 5, Salisbury used the Uber driver service to request a car to pick him up from Dunwoody, GA. According to the Dekalb County arrest warrant, the driver, Vivian Chidike Stober, responded to the call and let Salisbury into his vehicle, but no destination was ever given. Salisbury was intoxicated and verbally abusive, and Stober called 911 as soon as the shouting of racial slurs started.
Stober, who claimed to not have said anything to Salisbury, stopped the car, while still on the phone with 911 dispatch. Salisbury allegedly struck Stober on his right cheek with a closed fist, and then he got out of the vehicle.
On the 911 recording, the verbal altercation can be heard, and Salisbury repeatedly uses profanity, refers to the driver as the “n-word” and tells him to “go back to slavery, man.”
“The customer just assaulted me, just punched me in the face,” Stober said to dispatch on the 911 call.
According to the Dunwoody Police Department’s incident report, Salisbury told the officer on site that he and the driver had had an argument, and he denied striking Stober. The officer noted that Salisbury “had a strong odor of alcohol emitting from his person.”
The warrant for Salisbury’s arrest was signed on April 21 for the offense of battery visible harm, which is a misdemeanor. Jail records show that he was arrested on April 29 and released on bond on April 30.
Kennesaw State University issued a press release on May 7 claiming to not have known about the arrest until its news coverage the day before. They clarified that Salisbury had been placed on administrative leave with pay on March 26, but his status had already been changed to leave without pay on May 1.
“Campus officials now are in the process of gathering additional information about Salisbury’s status,” the press release stated.
Jennifer Ivey, an associate attorney for The Linley Jones Firm, is working with Linley on Stober’s case.
“Salisbury has been arrested before,” Ivey said via email. “He was arrested four times in 2013.”
He was charged with simple assault in February, disorderly conduct in March, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident in May, and disorderly conduct again in June.
According to the Dunwoody Police Department’s report on the incident that occurred in March of 2013, Salisbury was intoxicated at an Applebee’s and allegedly repeated racial slurs and derogatory remarks toward a black individual in the restaurant. The officer states in the report that Salisbury confessed that “he was a recovering alcoholic and that he had been in Alcoholics Anonymous for three years.”
Salisbury has been a lecturer of economics at KSU since 2012, and he has a score of 4.9 out of 5 on RateMyProfessors.com based on 77 student ratings. He received praise on the site for thorough lectures, detailed examples, funny anecdotes, and for offering help outside of class time. Salisbury has also been included in the “itsbiggerthanksu” hashtag on Twitter.
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What do your fellow readers think? Read comments below.
Mr. Salisbury is one of the best lecturers at KSU, and I’m
sad to hear he might be leaving. He changed the trajectory of my life by
motivating me to follow my aspirations and pursue my ambitions. He inspired a
lot of confidence in me and many others I know through his bright personality
and servant leadership. As an underrepresented student, I did not have the
support I needed until I met him. I have since developed into a highly
motivated individual with a strong desire to serve others and learn for the sake
of learning.
While at KSU, I had the great opportunity to work with him
and tutor his students. Never did I see or hear his problems interfering with
his work both inside and outside school; and I was not aware that he was a
struggling alcoholic in the past two years. He has always been devoted to doing the best work possible and supporting all his students. I sincerely hope he continues to recover and that he gets the support he needs through these difficult times.
I hope Professor Salisbury comes back. He’s a great asset to the university, and he’s a generous, kind, and intelligent man (Harvard graduate). He did a lot of good for his students, and definitely made an impact in my life. Since meeting him, a lot of doors have opened for me. I remember when I first met him, I felt so lost and insecure with my major and career. Professor Salisbury changed that; he introduced me to professionals, got me a tutoring job, and a Finance internship. He helped me do all this in less than a month. Professor Salisbury is more than just a nice mentor who gives advice. This guy knows how to guide students towards careers. KSU is missing out.
Professor Salisbury is the BEST thing that has happened to Coles College of Business and KSU in a very long time. I first met Professor Salisbury when I took his global class, and it changed my entire college trajectory. I was a computer science
major and quickly changed my major to finance when I saw how passionate, successful and involved he was in his class. His class left me with a lasting impression
I could do so much more with my life and career than what I ever thought possible!
Professor Salisbury has gone above and beyond what other professors at KSU have done and have changed students’ lives for the better. He takes the time to mentor students and to show us how remarkably successful we can be. I am now an Associate Vice President at a large bank, and I never thought I would be in
that position without the guidance of Professor Salisbury. I am lucky and grateful to have met him, and I hope KSU does not take that opportunity away from future students.
Addiction is a terrible disease and support should be the answer – not punishment. KSU should support his sobriety, counseling, and further involvement in KSU activities. An example of this would be starting a 12-step program on campus for
students who want to become sober. These actions should be the solution to this and not indefinite suspension.
Professor Salisbury provides keys to our success, opens doors when we
knock, and takes off the blindfold to opportunities around us and KSU should do
the same!
I was a student in Joshua Salisbury’s global economics class a year and a half ago. Prior to taking his class I had little interest in the subject, but his ability to create anecdotes and come up with relatable examples on the spot flattened out the learning curve and made the subject extremely interesting. Even though I’m going into the healthcare field, the time I spent as Professor Salisbury’s student has inspired me to look into the business side of things, join the economics and finance club, and keep up with economic functions at school.
His high rating on ratemyprof wasn’t earned because the class was laid back and easy. In fact, his attendance policy was more strict than with any other class I’ve ever taken at KSU. But because of his openness, availability, and desire to see his students succeed, the quality of his work inside the classroom as a teacher and outside of the classroom as a mentor makes Prof. Salisbury asset of immeasurable worth to KSU and the college of business.
Even though I haven’t been his student for over a year, Prof. Salisbury is never too busy to meet with me to provide me with advice, discuss economics, or just counsel me when I have a problem I need to run by him. He a great friend and teacher, and anyone who has ever met with him when he sits to meet with students in the Burruss building knows how compassionate he can be. It’s really unfortunate that he’s struggling through these hard times right now, but whatever indiscretion that may or may not have happened during the events described in this article is greatly overshadowed by the good will that Prof. Salisbury has cultivated throughout the years. I think it’s important that the school and his students stand by this great man and help him overcome his obstacles so that he can continue his work as a professor and mentor.
Professor Salisbury was definitely the most approachable and influential professor at KSU I knew. He did a lot of things that helped me become a motivated individual and not settle for the mediocrity I had become accustomed to in my academic career.
He was my career coach and really emphasized the importance of being an involved with KSU, beyond the classroom. This was very big for myself, because I tend to keep to myself and have a difficult time networking. He really cared about his students, which is sometimes hard for professors; especially if they have a career outside of academia like Prof. Salisbury.
I am still shocked to know he was battling alcoholism, let alone being abusive. He always seemed so well intact, and willing to help students beyond the normal role of a professor. I hope one day, preferably before I graduate, that he can make a return back to the school. I halso hope he gets all the support he needs to overcome his alcoholism.
I have had the privilege of knowing and working closely with Professor Salisbury over the last year. Professor Salisbury was always willing to help anyone in anyway that he could and he was a true asset to the Coles College of Business. To my knowledge, he never appeared to struggle with alcoholism and was always professional with everyone he encountered. He is struggling with a disease and he needs the support of everyone around him. I hope that he returns to Kennesaw State Univeristy because without him Coles just isn’t the same.
Sean Roberts
Professor Salisbury is the most knowledgeable and motivating lecturer I have ever met. Before I met him, I was a Nursing student at Kennesaw State University. I decided Nursing school wasn’t for me, so I switched my major to Finance.
During his first class, I could see that his teaching style was very clear. After one conversation with him, I was certain I had picked the right major. I am not used to a professor having such a dramatic effect on me in such a short amount of time. The most impressive qualities of Professor Salisbury are his time management skills, and his willingness to help. I don’t know how he found the time to provide me with such extraordinary help, but he always did. The same is true not just with me, but with many other students. I have yet to see a professor care as much about his or her students as much as Professor Salisbury did. I feel very fortunate that our paths crossed. Hopefully, thousands of other students are able to get similar experiences with him.
Battling Alcoholism is no easy task, and I hope Professor Salisbury gets the treatment he needs. He is a necessity to the Coles College of Business. Without him, many doors of opportunity will not only be closed, they will never be seen. With him, it is as though the doors never had hinges, and we are able to freely pass through any open doorway in which we choose.
Professor Salisbury has been the most important college professor that I have had during my KSU career. He is the only professor that has inspired me to try to be as successful as I possibly can be. I now have a sense of direction for my future. Many students are paralyzed by the uncertainty of what they are going to do with their college career. I had that same feeling until I took his class and had a few conversations with him. Somehow, Professor Salisbury managed to make everything that I need to do crystal clear while at the same time giving me a sense of calm.
Not only is Professor Salisbury wise but he also takes more time than I have ever seen to teach students. There were multiple times that he stayed with my class for an extra hour or more if they needed that time to understand the material. I would challenge anyone at KSU to tell me of another professor that takes that kind of time to really teach and help their students. I certainly have not met a professor who comes anywhere close to that level of kindness.
I think that anyone who has taken any of Professor Salisbury’s classes would argue that he is the most important professor that the KSU Coles College of Business has to offer. I also think treatment and support is the answer to alcoholism. Without a doubt he should be brought back to KSU.