Kenneth Brill, Augustana College associate dean and director of the office of student life and leadership at Augustana, was arrested at a bar on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 11:39 p.m. on the charge of public intoxication.

The bar where the arrest took place is called The Airliner. The Airliner is one of the most historic establishments in Iowa City and is located right off of the University of Iowa’s campus. It’s a popular hangout for Hawkeye fans. Brill, who agreed to speak with the Observer, said he had attended the Iowa football game earlier that day.

“I made an egregious mistake in Iowa City,” Brill said. “As a result of that, I disappointed everyone that I care about, including myself, my family, my colleagues and most importantly the students here. It was a complete error in judgement on my part and I take full responsibility for it, and I’m very sorry.”

According to the police report, Brill had bloodshot, watery eyes, difficulty speaking, smelled like alcohol and had impaired balance. Brill allegedly was unable to tell police where he was staying and police were not able to reach any family members. 

Antoni Roman, a sophomore at the University of Iowa, said he was a bartender working the night Brill was arrested.  

According to Roman, when Brill first came in everything was fine and Roman served him drinks normally. 

“But as the night went on, he began to be very disrespectful towards me,” Roman alleged. 

Roman said that Brill was impatient and wasn’t listening when Roman said he would serve him shortly. At one point, Roman said that Brill came around and was standing behind the bar.

“This is The Airliner, we’re obviously a college bar, especially on a Saturday night at one of our home football games,” Roman said. “So I’m just going one by one trying to serve everyone, and he just wasn’t waiting patiently to get served, and he just kept tapping my shoulder and grabbing my arm or cutting me off as I’m talking to other customers.”

Eventually, Roman asked Brill to leave the bar. After asking him to leave three times, Roman said he called security to escort him out. 

After being escorted out, Roman said that Brill remained on the property, standing on the patio area of The Airliner that’s located right outside the front door. According to the police report, an officer was called to The Airliner because Brill’s pants were off. Brill, however, said that his pants were slightly falling off when he walked outside and that he had on long underwear and many layers of clothing. 

From there, police offered to take Brill to the Guidelink Center, a center for mental health and substance abuse, to sober up. After allegedly refusing to cooperate with procedures, police then took Brill to Johnson County Jail.

Brill appeared in court and pleaded guilty on Monday, Nov. 15, and received a $105 fine. 

The Observer reached out to Augustana for comment:

“While the college is aware and working on this situation. The college does not comment on these matters,” Kirby Stockwell, Augustana College social media and public relations specialist, said.  “Our focus today, and every day, is on the students who live and study on our campus.” 

Since the incident, Brill said he’s gone to see his physician and a counselor. He’s also contacted the employee assistantship program at Augustana in efforts to get help. 

“I’ve had a long career at Augustana and I pride myself in professionalism, my work ethic and what I’ve accomplished, and in one night I placed everything at risk,” Brill said. “I hope that I can restore a little bit of faith with my students and colleagues here, and that through hard work I can get to a better place.”