Harvey still reminded of Knight's firing

Imagine seeing a T-shirt with the word "kill" on it followed by your first name. Imagine seeing that T-shirt being worn by hundreds of people.\nImagine mock lynchings in your honor. Imagine 500 angry e-mail messages in your inbox. Imagine your phone ringing nonstop with belligerent callers on the other end.\nImagine being run off of campus three weeks into your freshman year of college.\nFor former IU student Kent Harvey, these scenarios are more than just imaginative.\nBecause of the overwhelming scrutiny he faced on campus following a haphazard confrontation with former men's basketball coach Bob Knight, Harvey and his two brothers, Kevin and Kyle, left IU and relocated to IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he is now a senior majoring in business management.\nWith Midnight Madness coming Friday for IU basketball teams, Harvey spoke with the IDS recently through an e-mail interview about how the Knight incident has changed his life.\n"I faced a tough situation," Harvey said. "I struggled though the accusations of the Bob Knight ordeal. I was engulfed with over 500 e-mails from dissatisfied and revengeful IU students. I had many phone calls that were threatening. My face was on television, (which is) a fearful thing. There were riots. Hate and darkness seemed to dominate the day. I was devastated."\nHarvey's life was turned upside down on Sept. 7, 2000 at Assembly Hall.\nHarvey, surprised at the prospect of coming across such a prolific individual, bumped into then-men's basketball coach Bob Knight. He said to the former coach, "Hey, what's up, Knight?"\nKnight responded to Harvey's greeting by grabbing the 19-year-old's right arm and verbally reprimanding him for disrespecting an authority figure. \nMarks were still visible on Harvey's arm the next day, the police investigated the incident and three days later Knight was dismissed as IU basketball coach.\nWhen Knight was dismissed, shirts appeared on campus with the slogans "Kill Kent" and "Wanted: Dead or Alive."\n"The evening of coach Knight's firing was the climax of my despair and dismay," Harvey said. "The television was on and I saw the flourishing chaos in Bloomington and remembered thinking, 'If they by chance find out where I live, I'm a dead man!' I was paralyzed with fear as that discouraging thought came into my mind."\nHarvey said he had a hard time dealing with the public attention he was receiving.\n"Most, if not all of it, was very negative," Harvey said. "I don't like thinking about the multitudes getting to take a close look at my screw ups and then casting judgment on me." \nHe turned to many people for support, including his family and friends.\n"I got support in bizarre ways," he said. "God first and foremost supported me after I decided to let him take over the present situation. My family and a couple of my professors (also) provided assistance."\nThe situation proved extremely trying for Harvey's entire family.\n"I would say that this situation was very hard on the family," Kent Harvey's brother, Kevin Harvey said. "It was very stressful for everyone, family and friends. With all things considered, my family got through it and moved on fairly quickly."\nHarvey said he credits his faith in God, above all else, for helping him get through the pain he felt inside.\n"What else do you do in that situation?" he said. "I dropped to my knees to seek consolation from above. For the intellects, the message of the cross and of God's plan of salvation is foolish and dumb, but to those that are being saved from their sins, it's the power of God, and that's what I did. I wanted to be saved from my plight of sorrow and of the nasty thought of possible death. Jesus saved me, not only from the present danger at hand, but most importantly from my eternal death."\nEven today, Harvey admits he still thinks about IU frequently.\n"I try not to have negative feelings toward IU because I know it's wrong," he said. "Ever since I was a child, I had aspirations of attending IU, so I'm kind of envious and jealous that I didn't get to obtain my education from IU. However, I believe God had a different plan for me. I don't fully know what that entails, but I rest in that fact and am content with my present surroundings." \nHarvey said he carries no hard feelings toward Knight and wishes him the best in Texas. He also has accepted that many people will remember him largely because of the Knight incident. \n"My pastor, whom I love dearly, introduces me every time as 'the kid who got Bob Knight fired,'" Harvey said. "He is a huge basketball fan and a former college player himself. He jokes around with me and tries to embarrass me. It works."\nTo those who know him best, Harvey's response to the situation showed what kind of person he really is.\n"I learned that he is a guy who will stand up for what he believes in," said Kyle Harvey, Kent's other brother. "It could have been very easy for him to cave in under the persecution of the people and pressures of the media. But he didn't and for that I am proud of him."\n-- Contact staff writer Matt Lahr at mjlahr@indiana.edu.