Brock Benefiel
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Though it has warranted two appearances from President Bobby Fong at Faculty Senate meetings and multiple memos, Fong wrote Oct. 19 that the school will not sue a student over online speech.
“The university did not, has not and will not sue Jess Zimmerman,” Fong wrote. “His public claim that the university has done so is false. The university filed the lawsuit against ‘John Doe,’ the anonymous blogger, because it did not know who Soodo Nym was.”
Since Fong first addressed the senate Oct. 13 and Zimmerman admitted to being the TrueBU blogger, the lawsuit has raised questions over the implications of the litigation.
School administrators have been adamant that this case is not setting precedent.
“As many have noted, recent litigation sets a dangerous precedent not only for the regulation of blogs, but for student speech generally,” Caleb Hamman, who co-founded the Butler Underground, a blog that formed following the termination of TrueBU, said.
Levester Johnson, vice president of student affairs, said Butler is not setting a precedent, as other universities have stood against online speech they feel is illegal.
“Campuses and courts have been very clear as to what line that is,” Johnson said. “You can’t threaten anybody. You can’t intimidate anybody.”
Johnson cited the push by multiple colleges and student governments to ban Juicy Campus last fall as one example of universities regulating offensive content online.
Last week, according to the Claims Journal, two former Yale University Law School students settled a lawsuit with anonymous bloggers who posted sexually harassing and threatening messages about them on the Internet.
Johnson said despite successful legislation, offensive content online will always be around.
“Technology and the use of technology are going to be seen much like alcohol in the university environment,” he said. “We have done enough to try and enforce laws to establish campus policies and to educate, but we’re only able to keep it at bay so much.”
Bill Watts, an assistant professor of English who has been vocal about his opposition to the lawsuit, said Butler is still in dangerous territory.
“I agree with Dr. Fong that certain kinds of speech—including hate speech—should not be protected on campus,” Watts said in an e-mail response. “However, Dr. Fong and Provost Jamie Comstock are trying to draw the line between protected and unprotected speech in precisely the wrong place.”
Johnson said the university openly welcomes the exchange of opinions, including those that are unpopular to school administrators. However, he said the TrueBU blog was anything but a free exchange of ideas.
“When you make it personal and talk about an individual in that sense,” Johnson said, “you leave yourself open for being challenged yourself on whether you’re putting the truth out or not, whether you’re damaging someone’s character or whether you’re creating an environment where this person feels intimidated.”
Christina Lear, a senior English student who is employed by the university to produce a blog, said she has been critical of the school’s lawsuit and has not received any backlash.
“The Jess Zimmerman case is a big issue on campus, and I know prospective students will know that,” Lear said. “I think if none of the students are talking about it, that’s more concerning than someone commenting it.”
Johnson said the university will continue to help students better understand the dangers of the Internet.
“We believe that more can be done and should be done to educate people,” he said.
Fong said he hopes that this incident will be cause for conversation on how faculty and students should address online speech. The president said no rules will be added at this time.
“It would be inappropriate for us to try to initiate those discussions while a process is still going on,” he said. “Inevitably, a general discussion of these things would be tied in to a proceeding.”
Johnson said he continues to partner with Tyler Johnston, systems support project coordinator, during orientation to present programs on proper Internet use to incoming students.
Despite the lawsuit, some students said they will go about their business and continue producing online content like before.
“Campus blogs differ in importance depending on the setting,” Hamman said. “They need be no more than marginal in a place where students are allowed free and substantive input in university policy. It appears this is no longer the sort of university we have—a case in which diverse outlets of speech are of the utmost importance.”
For Fong, the campus still has to adapt to the issues of online speech.
“We are trying to find an appropriate balance between free exchange of ideas and protection for the community,” he said. “People have honest disagreements on where the line should be drawn. Maybe it’s not the same for every situation.”
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