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.
LAWSUIT: Historian fights back after Pennsylvania state senator sues him for criticizing book
Sen. Doug Mastriano’s lawsuit is a textbook “SLAPP” case, in which powerful individuals sue their critics into silence through long, costly litigation.
FIRE statement on California’s Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act
AB 2655 threatens Californians’ right to speak freely about politics in their state.
House passes historic legislation protecting free speech on college campuses
Public colleges must do more to protect the First Amendment rights of students and faculty on campus, according to a new bill in the House.
Kamala Harris comedy roast denied funding by University of South Carolina student senate
Despite pushback, the student senate denied funding to the student group Uncensored America for the event in a blatant example of viewpoint discrimination.