Piedmont Virginia Community College
- For other uses of "PVCC", see the disambiguation page.
Piedmont Virginia Community College is Chris's collegiate alma mater, a community college located in Charlottesville, Virginia, a member of the Virginia Community College System. At PVCC, Chris earned an Applied Science Associate's Degree in Computer-Aided Drafting and Design. After five years of study, Chris earned his degree, even though students are expected to earn associate's degrees after two years in the U.S. He also made the Dean's List, or so he claims.[1]
Chris refers to Piedmont Virginia Community College as the Private Villa of Corrupted Citizens (abbreviated PVCCitizens; or, on one occasion, as Piedmont Virginity College[2]), due to the grudge he holds against the college. Within the context of his Sonichu comics, Chris has characterized the Private Villa of Corrupted Citizens as the headquarters for the activities of the villains of CWCville, the realm of the evil witch Mary Lee Walsh. In real life, Walsh, in her role as Dean of Student Affairs, gave Chris a hard time on his Love Quest and at points shattered his heart, lowering his level to nearly zero. Chris took revenge in his own inimitable fashion, making her into a character in his comics: the evil witch in command of a villainous group known as the Private Villa of Corrupted Citizens (or Prowldent Virginia Community College).
Chris's academic life
Chris was probably both unwilling and unable to go to a better school, so PVCC was chosen for his collegiate career, likely by his parents. As a community college, the institution is not prestigious, accepting all applicants and not offering any degrees higher than an associate's. Nevertheless, we have its Dean of Student Services to thank for teaching, or at least attempting to teach, Chris some of the best lessons of his life – much to his chagrin, of course.
Chris began classes in PVCC in September 2000. For reasons unknown, even to Chris, he originally chose Marketing as his major; he likely chose it as a means to learn how to market Sonichu. Bob quickly transferred Chris to the CADD track, probably considering it a more attainable goal for Chris, this being a time before Bob had largely given up on Chris as a functioning adult.[3] Chris has said very little about his college academic career, and appears to have learned even less. We do know that, by the grace of God, he graduated after five years, and according to the PVCC Student Handbook in force while Chris was a student, he had to earn the following credits to acquire his particular two-year degree.[4][5] Note that the college considered 15 credits per semester to be a normal load, and 12 to be the minimum.
| Class | Credits |
|---|---|
| English Composition | 3 |
| Humanities/Fine Arts | 3 |
| Social/Behavioral Sciences | 6 |
| Natural Sciences and/or Mathematics | 3 |
| Wellness | 2 |
| Student Development | 1 |
| Computer Aided Drafting I-II | 6 |
| Additional CADD courses approved by advisor | 6 |
| Other occupational/technical courses | 35 |
| Total | 65 |
When Chris entered the college, he was required to consult with an academic counselor, who helped him plan his schedule. He was undoubtedly in close touch with the Counseling Center throughout his time there, given his mandates (see below). In other words, his CADD advisor would have played a very large role in guiding Chris towards the appropriate background and prerequisite courses. The nature of this relationship is unknown, but it can safely be assumed that Chris was passive and uninterested in what was decided for him. Bob probably had more contact with the CADD faculty than Chris did.
We know that Chris took at least one infamous English class. He also took Tennis and Ice Skating to fulfill his Wellness requirement.[6][7] Additionally, he took a course in HTML.[8] To learn more, someone will need to dig through Chris's trash again.
One "mystery" is why it took Chris so long to finish. Even taking his suspension into account, he needed ten semesters to earn a degree which officially should have taken four. Chris has never indicated that he had academic trouble, consistently asserting on his contemporary dating site profiles that he was doing just fine, the only exception being his prejudiced jerk English professor. One factor might have been the switch in majors from Marketing to CADD; he would not have been able to count specific marketing classes towards his new degree. Another possibility is that he was going to college part-time, preferring to spend a greater portion of his days playing vidya and/or working on his comic.
Kicked out of English
Chris's first great PVCC trauma occurred when he was kicked out of an English class on his birthday. Why this happened hasn't been made 100% clear, but Chris has given at least two reasons for the incident.
Chris stated on his Wikipedia page and during a chat with Jackie that his class was reading Wednesday's Child, a story about an autistic girl who brutally murders people.[9] Chris said that he told his male professor that he, too, was autistic. This apparently resulted in Chris's ejection from that class on 24 February 2003, Chris's twenty-first birthday, and many tears were shed. According to Chris, the reason for his ejection was the professor's misunderstanding and fear of autism. Chris later passed the course when he retook it with a female professor.
However, in the same chat with Jackie, he said that the topic of homosexuality had come up in a group discussion in class. Chris made a derogatory and inappropriate comment (in his words, he emitted "exclamations you'd likely hear from a black person in church"), and was promptly told to leave the classroom.[10] What exactly he said will forever remain a mystery, but given the circumstances it must have been fairly severe. It may have been that the professor was gay himself.
PVCC gave professors considerable leeway in disciplining their students. From the 2004–06 Student Handbook:[11]
| When unruly or otherwise unacceptable behavior occurs in a classroom or lab, the instructor may immediately have the student who is causing the problem leave the classroom. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor as soon as possible, and at the latest before the next meeting of the class or lab to attempt to reconcile the problem. If not resolved, and/or in the most serious cases, such as when a student has previously been removed from the class or when the behavior is a serious violation of the rights of others (i.e., threats of violence or other acts of hostility), the faculty member may prefer to deny the student’s return to the course. In these cases, the faculty member must file a written charge (available in the Admissions and Records Office) that proposes the removal of the student from the course....Once a charge is filed, the case will be settled by following the Procedure for Making and Hearing Charges Against Students. |
The Handbook defined disorderly conduct as including "loud noise that is disruptive to college functions", "obscene or abusive language or gestures" or "threatening or hostile language". This pretty much covers the waterfront of Chris's typical behaviors.
Given that Chris never reads the fine print (or even the large print), he was doubtlessly unaware of these legalistic niceties. Chris has not specified whether he was actually permanently expelled from the class by the professor, or if he just chose not to return.
At any rate, according to Chris, after being kicked out he sat at a table by himself and cried. As well as reinforcing Chris's hatred of men, this event also (albeit for no obvious reason) inspired Chris to begin his Love Quest.[12]
Kicked out of college
When Fall semester began in the fourth year of Chris's education, he began his Love Quest in earnest – academia be damned. For two months, Chris taped his Attraction Sign to the wall in the PVCC lobby, usually standing or sitting next to it. On 7 October 2003, however, Chris fell prey to Mary Lee Walsh, the Dean of Student Services, who allegedly ripped up his sign, yelled at him in "a very violent manner" and harshly criticized his methods. Given Chris's history of delusional thinking and revising past events when it comes to confrontations with authority figures, it is highly unlikely that this is what transpired. While Chris assumed she was simply a force of pure malice dedicated to keeping him a frustrated virgin, her official justification is not known, although the likeliest given reason was simply that Chris was soliciting sex on college property, which unsurprisingly created an uncomfortable environment for the unfortunate females he was undoubtedly leering at (as well as the JERK males he was glowering at).
In any case, Chris made another sign and put it up, but it was simply torn down again. For the rest of the semester Chris stopped his solicitations, but in the new year he implemented his new plan; he inundated the campus with copies of his monthly, Sonichu's News Dash!. This publication was predictably chiefly concerned with Chris and his all-consuming need for a girlfriend, with the Sonichu franchise firmly in the periphery. It can be assumed that Chris began using the Attraction Sign again to supplement his pamphleteering.
At this stage, the College had numerous legal avenues they could take to force Chris to stop. The pamphleteering (as Chris was doing it) was blatantly illegal:[13]
| Before beginning distribution of petitions, handbills, signs, or pieces of literature, students or registered student organizations, individuals, or groups must submit to the student activities office a copy of such for distribution approval. |
If this wasn't enough, the college also defined illegal activities as including "misuse of public or private property", "sexual harassment", "disruption of normal functioning of the college", "harassment of any other person on college property" and "violation of any other college policy or regulation". Chris defied every one of these literally hundreds of times.
Chris managed to get out two issues of the News Dash before direct intervention occurred. In late January 2004, he was summoned to a meeting with Walsh as well as Susan Hannifan from the Office of Advisement and Counseling, who specialized in Disability Support Services[14] who, considering her position, would have been extremely courteous and obliging to Chris (to the extent possible) and would also have had a good understanding of Chris's condition. Chris, however, despised Hannifan and was giving her "the silent treatment" at this time (something Susan probably would have been happy about). At the February 9 meeting, Chris was told in no uncertain terms that he could not distribute the News Dash, and presumably also ordered (again) not to use his Sign either. According to him, he incurred a haranguing from Walsh, who for her troubles found herself on the receiving end of a lecture from Sonichu, punctuated by a loud curse-ye-ha-me-ha.
Chris then significantly escalated the situation in two ways. Upon returning home from his meeting, he wrote in his diary,
| “ | I AM VERY ANGRY AT THAT XXXXX! In response, I plan to incite the masses, and hope they DEMAND the return the News Dash so my chances on getting a girlfriend can be restored. I have also declared WAR on them as well! | ” |
The following day, he posted on his website:
|
Sonichu's News Dash! has been taken away by Mary Lee Walsh! Mary Lee Walsh has taken the Sonichu's News Dash! and made it illegal on PVCC property. But it is not too late; go to Mary's office and DEMAND that the News Dash should stay running on Piedmont Virginia Community College! To annoy her, send her an email! |
He helpfully included a link.
Chris also sent Walsh an angry note which "communicated an 'intimidating glare' in a pictorial fashion".[15] Walsh correctly interpreted this as harassment, and accordingly she set in motion disciplinary procedures.
On paper,[16] any member of the PVCC community who initiated charges against a student would have said charges investigated by the Dean of Student Services. In this case, however, it was the Dean herself who was filing the charges. How the college dealt with this paradox is unknown; perhaps one of Mary's colleagues investigated instead. What is clear, however, is that Chris had stupidly attacked the one person at the college who was most knowledgeable about how to expel students. It is also almost certain that Walsh herself would not have partaken in the disciplinary decision concerning Chris, as she was involved in the incidents and thus would have been obligated to abstain from judgement.
Again on paper, Chris would have been given five days to address the allegations against him. At this point, the college had the choice to simply give Chris a written warning. Instead, they wisely decided to treat the matter seriously enough to assemble the College Hearing Committee, which would discuss the possibility of suspension or expulsion. In ten days there would be a hearing, to which Chris could bring people to defend him.
In reality, there were "several hearings", and the decision to suspend Chris wasn't made until September.[17] It is almost a certainty that Chris allowed others to fight this battle for him, in this case his parents. And knowing what we do about Barb and Bob, they likely fought tooth and nail to shield Chris from the slightest punishment. On March 2, Walsh met with Chris and his parents and, in his words, "tried to frame me, just to giver [sic] her an excuse to boot me out of PVCC". This angered Chris and his parents.[18]
On 16 September 2004, Chris was informed that he had been suspended for one year. In order to return, he would need to take anger management classes, get a psychological evaluation and receive "social skills counseling".[19][20] Thus, we have the autism papers. He apparently completed these tasks and was allowed to return to campus, and he was attending classes again in Fall 2005.
Graduation
After spending five years on a degree that is expected to take only two, Chris graduated with an associate's degree in Applied Science and a CADD certificate. Chris has repeatedly and fallaciously claimed to have two degrees, seemingly not understanding that his certificate and his associate's degree are two separate things.[21][22][23][24][25]
As opposed to his high school graduation, Chris didn't seem to care about graduating from college, likely because of his perceived antagonisation during his studies there. On the big day, Chris wore not only his Sonichu medallion, but his gown, tassel, and honor roll from high school.
During 15 August 2014, years after graduation, Chris attempted to make up with Walsh by sending her a bunch of apology letters. In reality, it was just a bunch of incoherent ramblings in paper form about the stress brought upon him by trolls and bans from his favorite haunts. He goes on to mention that anything bad that's happened to her is the result of himself drawing her as a witch, an act he was entirely justified in performing due to her interference in the sweetheart search, but which he is sorry for anyways. Walsh simply responded with a permanent ban from the PVCC Campus.
Graduation
Such is his disdain for college, he's wearing the medallion and the same shirt of fail he draws himself in.
And as usual, Chris couldn't care less and he disrobed himself like a small child.
His Associate of Applied Science degree.
His CADD certificate. Chris insists this is a degree, but the Commonwealth of Virginia begs to differ.
"Student featured in Nintendo Power."
See also
Sources
- ↑ Miyamoto Saga: "I earned two degrees in Computer Aided Drafting and Design at Piedmont Virginia Community College, and made the Dean's List."
- ↑ CWC Personal Sonichu Presentation
- ↑ Jackie_E-mails#Chris_is_lazy.2C_Hates_simple_chores
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ MySpace messages
- ↑ Kacey Call 5
- ↑ Regina e-mails
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ Jackie Chat 5
- ↑ [4]
- ↑ User:ChrisChanSonichu profile#Start of my Sweetheart Search
- ↑ [5]
- ↑ [6]
- ↑ Autism papers
- ↑ [7]
- ↑ Autism papers
- ↑ CWC's Diary
- ↑ Autism papers
- ↑ User:ChrisChanSonichu profile#Enter the Wicked Witch of the Private Villa of Corrupted Citizens
- ↑ BlueSpike PSN Chat #4
- ↑ CWC - Hand Drawn Original
- ↑ IRC (26 October 2008)
- ↑ Cole Smithey E-mails
- ↑ IRC (24 October 2008)
External links
 PVCC Saga
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