In what’s being hailed as a “victory for free speech,” the University of Oregon has “dropped the unconstitutional conduct charges it filed against a student based on a four-word joke wholly protected by the First Amendment,” the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education announced Thursday.
“We’re pleased that the student is no longer weighed down by these chilling disciplinary charges and can focus on her education,” said Peter Bonilla, director of FIRE’s Individual Rights Defense Program, in a statement. “UO’s quick action here illustrates something we’ve long recognized at FIRE: Universities are seldom able to defend in public what they try to do in private.”
As The College Fix previously reported:
A University of Oregon female student visited some friends at a dorm in June, saw a couple walking outside, and decided to razz them by yelling out the window: “I hit it first!” The gal she yelled down at called back: “F*ck you, b*tch.”
The Assistant Residence Life Coordinator, informed of the situation, hunted the jokester down, and she apologized to the couple. End of story, right? Wrong.
A “Notice of Allegation” to the student, who has asked to remain anonymous, accuses her of: community disruption; a housing violation; harassment; university disruption; and disorderly conduct. It requires her to set up a hearing to determine her innocence or guilt by mid-October.
Read FIRE’s full announcement.
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