Table of Contents
Defining ‘Harassment’ Down at SUNY-New Paltz
FIRE intern Acton Gorton has this commentary on recent goings-on in New York State:
***
Telling someone to “shut up” is apparently enough to get you arrested by university police and thrown out of the State University of New York at New Paltz. According to a July 7, 2006, Inside Higher Ed article, Corinna Caracci, SUNY–New Paltz’s director of residence life, filed a police report accusing newly elected student government President Justin Holmes and Vice President R.J. Partington III of “upsetting and annoying her.”
The university found this to be sufficient grounds for harassment and gave Holmes a one-year suspension, while expelling Partington. In response to this, Holmes has created a website with a video of the incident, which appears to contradict Caracci’s allegation that she was forced into a hostile situation that would be likely to make her feel “like a terrorized single woman with no one to protect me.” (Take a look at the video and decide for yourself.)
In light of the existence of this video, SUNY–New Paltz might want to reconsider its decision to punish students for hurting someone’s feelings before the students carry through with their threat to sue the university for reinstatement.
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.
VICTORY: Michigan town declares Sept. 6 ‘First Amendment Day’ after FIRE sues its mayor for shouting down residents
After their mayor silenced them for criticizing her during city council meetings, four Eastpointe, Michigan, residents sued their city — and won.
USC canceling valedictorian’s commencement speech looks like calculated censorship
The university’s move, citing vague ‘safety concerns’ appears designed to placate critics of the student’s Israel criticism.
Back into the FIRE: Hasen’s response to FIRE and Rohde: Don’t read the press clause out of the Constitution — First Amendment News 420
First Amendment News is a weekly blog and newsletter about free expression issues by Ronald K. L. Collins and is editorially independent from FIRE.
Western Washington University punishes racing team for sending photo of penis drawing on pizza box
The university faulted the group for drawing “a symbol of white, male power and domination.”