Dear Editor,

Professor Gregory Germain claimed in The Washington Post that the suspension of several Theta Tau members after blatantly racist videos were leaked from Theta Tau’s Facebook page constitutes a betrayal of free speech. He argues that Chancellor Kent Syverud is on the path to censorship and that punitive action against students caught on film yelling, “F*ck n*ggers, sp*cs and Jews” is akin to “abridging free speech rights” and “will create a climate of fear that prevents the free exchange of ideas and learning.”

From Professor Germain:

“A diverse group of 15 students … pledging an engineering fraternity were asked to … roast … fraternity members for their joint amusement. The skits were crude: … a politically conservative member was made to be an alt-right bigot who formed a competing fraternity to spread racism; a skit about sexually assaulting a fraternity member … They were making fun of themselves … in outlandish ways using very crude language … Everyone laughed at the outrageousness and stupidity of the skits and went home. No one complained.”

As a Syracuse University student I expected consequences if I shouted epithets in any context. “Crude language” is easily delineated from racial slurs, but Germain makes no distinction and does not concede the racism revealed by the videos. Germain says, “Unfortunately for the students … someone got access to the fraternity’s private Facebook page … and sent the videos to The Daily Orange … and university officials.” Are we okay with this “outlandish” behavior as long as it remains behind closed doors?

Germain says SU used “an unfair process to convict … kids of things that they did not do” and suggests that SU’s decision to suspend students is invalid because it’s inconsistent with criminal law. This was an investigation into student conduct. It was not a case in the criminal justice system. They are not children.

Germain argues otherwise but the injured party is SU’s inclusivity, diversity, civility and the student body at large. The videos are a PR disaster for SU and are damaging to its cherished culture. Dismissing wrongdoing because it’s not technically “harassment” is a moral failure.

The threat in this case is not campus censorship. The true terror is the growing abuse of the First Amendment’s important protections. You can shout slurs, but it doesn’t mean private universities have to tolerate it. The university stood by its long held principles by taking action.

Sincerely,

Michael Rotella

2011 Syracuse University graduate

Published on June 23, 2018 at 12:15 am