Student Blogger Shut Down and Sued by Butler University Over Free Speech

Jess Zimmerman is a junior at Butler University in Indianapolis. Last year he wrote criticisms of Butler's administration in an anonymous blog. It was an opinion piece. Apparently the administrators at Butler don't take too kindly to criticism because now they've taken the unprecedented action of suing Jess and threatening him with their full arsenal of on campus punishments. We now have the first case of a university suing a student over online free speech. (Full disclosure: Jess's father is an acquaintance of mine.)

Yes, I know the Internet is the wild west of journalism. If you believe in any conspiracy or have a very unusual political bent, there are hundreds of sites that will support their beliefs. Responsible adults usually ignore these criticisms and let them slide off their backs. However, Butler has decided to make an example of young Mr. Zimmerman to control Internet content and silence future criticisms of the university.

The biggest crime seems to be that Mr. Zimmerman wrote the blog anonymously. While writing criticisms under a pseudonym could be seen by some as a lapse in judgment, it certainly does not rise to the level of a crime. But then again, there is a long tradition in American history of powerful anonymous writings from Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton to James Madison and John Jay. In any case, nothing slanderous was written in Mr. Zimmerman's blog. They were opinion pieces.

The bog gained popularity on campus, much to the chagrin of the administration. Two e-mails agreeing with Zimmerman's views were sent to the university provost, one of which might have been a bit overzealous. Apparently the president and provost became so alarmed by the e-mails that during a presentation to the faculty senate (a full ten months later) the president referenced the shootings at Virginia Tech. Is this getting a little out of hand? You betcha. (The details of the controversy are here. Zimmerman's blog is here.)

A few days ago president Obama was asked by a youngster at a town hall meeting in New Orleans "Why does everybody hate you?" Obama replied "Take it with a grain of salt... Don't take it too seriously." A much wiser approach than suing a student.

Comments

[GodBlessAmerica]

Mr. Kreisman failed to mention how Butler determined, through the pseudonym, how it determined the identity of the blogger.

I disagree with him on an important point: Certainly the University's reaction shows that using a pseudonym was the proper way to go, and certainly not a "lapse in judgement."

[GodBlessAmerica]

Um, Mr. Kreisman -- that was a hint for you to respond and clarify the point in the article.

[RevDrJAG]

Even our places of higher education are infected by this litigious culture of ours.

[ignorantwillyharper]

My money is on Zimmerman!

[Sandra Gellers]

scary and alarming. But good to read it here and create a bigger publicity for that kind of theme.

[Alex Zimmerman]

Butler president Bobby Fong has just announced that the university will refrain from pursuing the lawsuit at this time, apparently as a direct result of the negative attention Butler was getting here and in InsideHigherEd. (They have, however, refused to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, thus retaining the ability to refile at any time for any reason.) While this is certainly good news, it's unclear what academic sanctions Jess is still facing. He has previously been threatened with expulsion, independent of the lawsuit, and he was removed from a Butler advisory committee when it became clear he was behind the blog. I certainly hope they're done punishing him for exercising his freedom of speech.

[geminp]

As this story gains more and more national attention, it becomes more and more obvious that Butler should do the right thing while it has half a chance to save face.

Those of us who know Jess and his family as colleagues and friends know that they are fair-minded, intelligent, and moral people and that they do not use or tolerate racist and/or sexist language.

In addition, that the president of a university should manufacture a context in which to refer to a national tragedy and create a fallacy in self defense only furthers Jess's case. "Shameful" and "desperate" are two adjectives that characterize this self-defeating behavior.

The national academic community is watching, and so is the nation, thanks to the HuffPost. And Butler does not look good.

[wwalsh]

Unbelievable. What was that about it getting hot in the kitchen? Who do these ADMINSTATORIS THINK THEY ARE?

ADMINISTRA­TORS--can'­t live with 'em, can't live without 'em--but what if we could?

[FredDillinger]

The university has handled this issue in an appalling manner and at first blush it seems to be a case of Butler administrators having some sort of personal animus against Jess' parents, as they both got fired or demoted in the past year for no apparent reason. Hopefully they'll come to their senses and realize, at least, that suing a student for exercising free speech and harassing politically involved students has the potential to truly damage their institution, even more so than dismissing one of the country's premier oboists and one of the country's premier biologists.

[Evo Writer]

Has the Butler administration thought through what this will do to their reputation and their enrollment? This will surely damage the University's credibility with potential applicants. Their actions call to mind one of the phrase's used by Judge Jones to describe the Dover Area School District's Board in the famous 2005 intelligent design trial: "Breathtaking inanity".

[Roopez123]

This is the first time a college is suing a student over internet content? Wow. Pretty scary. Kinda 1984.

[abjones622]

Anyone truly familiar with 1) how Butler administrators conduct business and 2) the facts surrounding this lawsuit knows how ridiculous this situation is. Doesn't the fact that this is the first lawsuit of its kind, ever, mean anything to the people defending the Butler administration? I know firsthand how petty and vindictive Butler administrators can be--I am a 2008 graduate and was a student leader for four years--and honestly, it was just a matter of time before President Bobby Fong and his crew went one step too far. If there is a God, the Trustees will finally get involved and put a stop to his ridiculous, egomaniacal tenure as Butler's President.

This culture of fear, deceit, secrecy, and silencing dissent must stop if Butler wishes to repair its quickly declining reputation. This is turning into a national embarrassment and if it is not corrected, it will directly affect student recruitment and retention and alumni donations.

[lz0629]

Butler University Administration should be embarrassed for their actions. Are they going to begin scanning Facebook, Twitter and all the rest of the social media sites to find all the derogatory comments students are making about their University? I bid them good luck with that! Very rarely does someone log in to a blog site with their actual name, why is this situation any different? Singling out one student who voices his opinion is outlandish...does someone in the administration have a personal issue with this young man?

[Thinking Al]

Who is it at Butler that has a vendetta against the Zimmerman family? Jess' mother, reportedly a faculty member popular with both students and other faculty, was terminated (for no cause). Jess' father, a world-renown scientist and academician has been demoted (also for no cause). And Jess is being sued for exercising a fundamental principle of our United States - questioning how authority is exercised.

Having witnessed the world acclaim father Zimmerman has brought to Butler in three distinctly separate fields - religion, science, and education - through his success at protecting freedom of religion and science education from religious fundamentalists, I seriously wonder if some fundamental religious zealot at Butler is attempting to silence him and his tremendous success.

As the Federal trial judge of the Dover School District commented (paraphrased), sometimes Christians will do very un-Christian acts trying to accomplish goals that Christ would not approve of.

[prblake1]

This is pathetic. Administrators need to be ready to take responsibility for their decisions - which means taking the heat. Apparently these adminitrators do not understand the difference between harassment and consequences.

[ralphwillow]

This story simply takes my breath away. The president of the university should be embarrassed by what he wrote.