Student who put items on planes returns to North Carolina college

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The college student facing a federal weapons charge for hiding box cutters on airplanes is back in class.
Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, returned Thursday night to Guilford College, according to his friend, Jeff Ebert. A news release from the Quaker school also confirmed the junior “has returned to his normal academic and campus life routines.”
Heatwole’s lawyer did not return a telephone call seeking comment late Saturday.
“He didn’t look fazed at all,” Ebert said. “He was just regular Nat.”
Heatwole, of Damascus, Md., was released without bail Oct. 20 after being charged with taking a dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft. His next hearing is set for Nov. 10.
He has said he hid box cutters, modeling clay made to look like plastic explosives, matches and bleach on two Southwest flights in an act of “civil disobedience” to expose weaknesses in U.S. security, authorities said.
The charge carries up to a 10-year prison sentence, although Heatwole could serve no prison time because he has no criminal record.
Heatwole won’t be punished by the school because he didn’t violate Guilford’s student conduct code, said Anne Lundquist, dean for student life.
Nonconformists are welcomed by Guilford, the only Quaker-affiliated college in the South, said campus ministry coordinator Max Carter.
“If you’re … the one person in your school who was thrown up against a locker and beat up for not doing the Pledge of Allegiance, for not supporting the war in Iraq, for not joining the ROTC, and you’re looking for a supportive place, Guilford is that place,” Carter said.
The college has drawn pacifists throughout its history, and some recently retired faculty members were conscientious objectors from World War II. This year, two Guilford students were sent to prison for six months for demonstrating at Fort Benning, Ga., against a U.S. training program for Latin American soldiers.