Former Talladega College student files suit in federal court

A former Talladega College student who was shot in October 2012 has filed a lawsuit against the college, college President Billy Hawkins, Vice President Jacqueline Paddio and band director and recruiter Miguel Bonds.  The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Birmingham, alleges negligence, recklessness and wantonness against the college; promissory fraud against the college, Hawkins and Paddio; deceit against the college and Bonds and suppression and concealment against the college, Hawkins, Paddio and Bonds. The suit does not request a specific amount in damages, rather leaving that determination up to a jury. The plaintiff, Joshua Emery, is a native of New Orleans, and is currently living there. According to the suit, he was approached by Bonds in 2011 at his school. Bonds allegedly promised Emery a small scholarship to participate in the marching band at the college, though Emery could not read music.  The suit also states that During the recruitment, Bonds also promised Emery that if he moved to Talladega, he could study his desired curriculum, engineering.. The college did not, and still does not, offer an engineering program.  Emery said he did not discover this until after he had moved to Talladega and secured student loans. He took only core classes during his freshman year.  The suit also states that Prior to enrolling at Talladega College, Emery was not put on notice or made aware of the amount of violence that frequently occurs” on campus.  Emery, who was 19 at the time, was shot on the steps of Crawford Hall on Oct. 13, 2012. The shooting was preceded by several other violent incidents on campus, “involving several different Talladega College students, including an additional incident involving Emery and the same group of unidentified male suspects, who were not students, but local Talladega residents.