Utah Student Journalists May Not Graduate After Paper Gag

The records of nine graduating seniors at the University of Utah are being held by the college after it determined their roles in a newspaper prank violated the school's code of student responsibilities.

The students, all staffers at the Daily Utah Chronicle (part of HuffPost College's campus newspaper network), wrote farewell columns for the paper that when arranged on the page spelled out "C*NT" and "PENIS."

According to an interview with outgoing Chronicle Editor Rachel Hanson in the Salt Lake City Weekly, the gag is a years-long tradition, and this is the first time the university has said anything:

"I'm kind of flabbergasted," Hanson said. "I don't think they've done this to the Chronicle before. This is a new, extreme step they've taken. I don't know if they intend to scare us ... or really keep us from graduating."

"No one's every noticed before, or cared," Hanson said. This year the gag was posted to the popular FailBlog, then bounced between Utah Twitter and Facebook users after City Weekly blogged about it also.

The students were each e-mailed by the dean and ordered to schedule a meeting. Hanson told the Student Press Law Center that she and the other offending students will "be able to walk" in graduation, but their diplomas and transcripts will most likely not be processed, at least right away.

SPLC attorney advocate Adam Goldstein says putting a hold on the students' diplomas and/or transcripts is "a complete violation of [their] First Amendment rights."

"That the administration doesn't find this tradition funny doesn't give them the right to punish what is, at its core, speech. The entire purpose of the First Amendment is to protect the right to offend people. Sometimes you offend King George by calling him unfair, and sometimes you offend your dean by naming body parts," said Goldstein.

For more pictures of the newspaper in question, see here.

What do you think? Is the school being too extreme? Or do the students deserve to suffer consequences?

Comments

[Mountain Momma]

01:39 AM on 05/11/2010

Legally, if those students passed all their courses and have the required number of credits, how could they not receive diplomas? Did they do something tacky? Sure. But I didn't realize good taste was a prerequisite for graduation. If so, ceremonies at most universities would be a lot quicker.

[muhltrayne]

08:42 PM on 05/10/2010

wow...it's not like they wrote The Church of LDS is a money sucking cult.

[PeachyyK]

12:32 PM on 05/10/2010

This is hilarious and rediculous at the same time. The dean at this school needs to chill out.

Next week's newspaper should read:
D E A N S U C K S
& see what he says.

[bthechangeyouseek]

03:00 AM on 05/10/2010

Wow, have not seen this on this news. I wonder why.

[Joe Moore]

01:42 AM on 05/10/2010

The school is being too extreme. Can't WAIT until this wave of American conservatism is over and a new 70's comes back. These school officials should be more laid back, they grew up in the 60s and 70s!!

[JessWonderin]

11:31 PM on 05/10/2010

"They" were the ones that avoided the draft, drugs, sex and rock'n'roll . . . they voted "present" in the 60's and 70's . . . . .

[Joe Moore]

12:03 AM on 05/11/2010

I think it's time for another Flower Child revolution. Seriously...people are getting way too wound up in America right now. Especially with every minority being turned into a feared group. Fear the gays! Fear the Mexicans! Fear anyone who remotely looks Arabic!

When did it become okay to openly bash people in public? There used to be a decorum in this country. It happened, but people were too proud to say anything in public.

[DramaKitteh]

09:56 PM on 05/09/2010

I applaud those students. That gag was clever and hilarious.

[NoraHuffster]

12:18 PM on 05/09/2010

How prudish can some people be?! Someone needs to get some fresh air and remember what is like to be that age.

[jfair80]

12:00 PM on 05/09/2010

These kids deserve to graduate. That joke was hilarious.

[ByersL]

11:08 AM on 05/09/2010

I'm an alum, and I suggest you graduate these kids or suffer fewer donations. The school is not all LDS you know!

[AdamWright]

11:43 PM on 05/08/2010

For the Mormons, American history started when Jesus came and lived with the native peoples. Who they think are the lost tribe of Israel. And whose skin was turned dark as a punishment from God for being wicked. Seriously. Glenn Beck is a Mormon. Don't his other beliefs seem reasonable now that they can be contrasted to this crazy business? His other revisions of U.S. history are far less glaring in their silliness, although they are much easier to fact check and find the hallucinatory medicated mind at work.

[AdamWright]

11:39 PM on 05/08/2010

Being a bad sport over a joke you don't like is much worse than telling a distasteful joke. If a bit of maturity is to be displayed here, why don't we let the middle-aged and senior administrators at the University run with the ball and act in an adult manner. It was a joke, nothing more. Get over it.

[pulmonary something]

11:04 PM on 05/08/2010

I lol'd

Love it.

[BowlingForRevenge]

10:27 PM on 05/08/2010

People
Enjoy
Nonsense
Inside
Schools

Celebrate
Unique
Natural
Talents

[IfIonlyknew]

03:18 PM on 05/09/2010

Nice....

[JacksonJones]

12:25 PM on 05/10/2010

Oh, well done! As fine an expression of 1st Amendment solidarity as has ever grace the pages of these fora.

[KataVideo]

06:43 PM on 05/08/2010

College? This is something one would expect from high schoolers.
Let the dweebs graduate and let this follow them into the job market.

[Carachama]

06:09 PM on 05/08/2010

I don't understand how we give words such power. Some random mix of letters gains a meaning and then it becomes shocking? A word, no matter what it is, devoid of context, should have no power whatsoever. No word by itself should ever be considered obscene.

[Marioth]

06:17 PM on 05/08/2010

Exactly right. At a certain point of understanding, one chooses to be offended. It serves as a nice defense for not having to pay attention to the rights of others, especially those with divergent viewpoints. Notice how quickly some here want to muzzle fellow citizens simply because of the GASP! they must make at reading certain words.

The First Amendment also exists to protect us from this kind of thinking dominating the debate. Prudishness is no basis for public policy.

[jfair80]

12:02 PM on 05/09/2010

Wise Words, in context of course.