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Marquette Dental Student Suspended For Blogging
whiteSanjuro writes "Reported first by the bloggers, and now the mainstream press, is a story of a student being suspended by his university for the rest of the academic year because of entries in the student's blog which the university did not view favorably. It has already had some chilling effects and looks like it will be setting a standard that students at private universities aren't guaranteed free speech online. The student (who wishes to remain anonymous) is appealing the university's decision in an effort to remain in classes and finish out the current semester, but even the terms of re-admittance (pdf) leave the blogger subject to probation, minus a scholarship, and prohibit future free blogging. Perhaps now is the time to consider joining the EFF if you attend a private university and have a blog."
IMO, the response was correct.
A university's, just like any other business, has a reputation to uphold that is extremely vital to their prestige. I would be very put off by an institution that allowed its students to spout off obscenities about professors and badmouth students in a very immature way in public with no repurcussions whatsoever.
I don't know where you get this idea that not shrugging something off, or not punishing an individual for breaches of civility is itself immature. I think you have a very, very twisted and self-serving definition of "immature".
What would you have the university do; nothing? That'd be a great world, wouldn't it? A bunch of immature folks running around shouting obscenities about anything and everything, and everyone would be too afraid to put up a defense for fear of being labelled "immature" themselves.
People will pass up steak once a week, for crap every day.