UNIVERSITIES ARE INCREASINGLY SUSPENDING AND FIRING PEOPLE BASED ON SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY

Winchester, VA – Universities are increasingly suspending and firing people for their activities on social media. Two instances of this crossed the News Desk this week. First, the Miami Herald reports that a 21 year old University of Central Florida student named Nick Lutz was suspended after he posted on Twitter an emotional four page letter sent to him by his ex-girlfriend, complete with grammatical and stylistic corrections which he added himself. For example, where she says, “The thought of you has made me loose my sanity,” he writes “lose”. Where she denies cheating on him, in red ink he writes “Strong statement. No supporting details to support your hypothesis.” In the end Lutz gave the letter a D minus, saying, “Long intro, short conclusion, strong hypothesis but nothing to back it up. While the gesture is appreciated I would prefer details over statements. Revision for half credit will be accepted.” Incensed, his ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth, went to the Sheriff’s office, but there was nothing for them to do, so she took her case to the University, where she filed a grievance, claiming Lutz was engaging in cyber-bullying. Although the Twitter post went viral, Lutz never mentioned his ex-girlfriend by name. The University entertained her complaints and suspended Lutz for Summer and Fall of 2017 for violating the “disruptive conduct” and “harmful behavior” clauses of the student conduct code.  The Miami Herald updated this story today, saying that the suspension of Nick Lutz has been lifted and that he has been granted an appeal.

The Huffington Post reported yesterday that in Idaho, a Brigham Young University professor named Ruthie Robertson was fired for posting on Facebook in support of the LGBTQ community, in a post critical of the Mormon Church’s opposition to gay marriage. Her post was set to private, meaning only friends could see it, and she did not have any current students in her friend list. Two of those in her friend list, however, reported the post to BYU’s president and to her department head. Within hours she was in a meeting with her higher-ups, who told her that her post violated the faculty handbook. She was told if she wanted to keep her job, she needed to remove the post, but she refused.

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