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Central Michigan Student Faces Hearing Today

Dennis Lennox, a student long at the center of controversy at Central Michigan University, faces a disciplinary hearing today at 1 p.m. EST for violating university policy regarding distribution of materials, refusing to provide his name to university personnel, and providing a "false identity" to university personnel.

FIRE reported on the situation a couple of weeks ago and it's just as ridiculous now as it was then. Lennox's group, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), clashed with the university over freedom of association last spring and has been in conflict with the CMU administration since October. To make a long story short, over the last few months Lennox has been banned from videotaping anyone on campus, has been accused by a university spokesman of "stalking" a professor, and has had to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain documents withheld by the university. He's also been left out of his own disciplinary hearing, was accused by professors of being the next Virginia Tech-type shooter, has had to file a complaint under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act with the Department of Education, and still has to face a hearing for dubious charges regarding a late night paper distribution incident.

To top it all off, the university won't let him videotape his own hearing. Central Michigan has given Lennox no reason to trust them and many reasons to doubt their fidelity to due process stipulations. But they have rigged the game so that it's their word against his. The Michigan chapter of the ACLU has gotten involved in Lennox's case. We'll keep you posted with any developments.

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