Tulsa University Bans Student From Campus For Someone Else's Facebook Posts

from the feelings-were-hurt,-therefore-vindictive-stupidity dept

Wed, Feb 18th 2015 6:04am — Tim Cushing

Nothing generates bad press quite like overreaction, and Tulsa University (OK) is busy making itself look vindictive and stupid. How does it handle critical Facebook posts directed at its staff? By punishing the student who didn't write them and following that up with an attempt to silence critics of its terrible disciplinary decision.

In a triple blow to free speech, due process, and freedom of the press, the University of Tulsa (TU) arbitrarily banned a student from campus until 2016 for Facebook posts that someone else admitted to writing and then attempted to intimidate student journalists who were trying to cover the story.

Student George "Trey" Barnett's husband, Chris Magnum (posting under the name "Christopher Blackstone"), posted comments critical of TU staff to Barnett's Facebook page, tagging Barnett in the process. Despite the fact that Barnett didn't write the posts and Magnum provided a sworn affidavit attesting to his authorship, the university went after Barnett.

[S]hortly after TU professor Susan Barrett filed a complaint against Barnett arguing that Barnett could not “avoid responsibility” because someone else was responsible for the posts, TU Senior Vice Provost Winona Tanaka imposed eight restrictive interim measures against Barnett. The sanctions included suspending his participation in certain courses and activities and even barring him from speaking about certain individuals.

Further steps in the disciplinary process were sidestepped in TU's push to punish Barnett for something he didn't write. According to school policies, Barnett was entitled to a hearing prior to the meting out of disciplinary actions, but the university refused to follow its own rules. Instead, it claimed Barnett was somehow "responsible" for the insults and criticisms written by his significant other and asserted that he was just "hiding behind" this "excuse" to avoid being punished.

The university's disciplinary memo shows a clear lack of understanding of how Facebook works. The memo states that Barnett (already wrong) posted these comments on his page, when in fact, they were posted to his page by someone else. These are very different actions, even if they may look the same to those unfamiliar with Facebook's posting mechanisms. Yes, the posts would have shown up on Barnett's page, but it should have been easily apparent these were not posted from Barnett's account.

While the posts were certainly negative and verging on defamatory (one instructor is referred to as "morbidly obese," and that's about the nicest thing that's said; another is accused of being corrupt and the word "racketeering" is carelessly deployed), they were not written by the student who was ultimately punished for them. The university had a sworn affidavit in its possession from the actual author, but it wasn't interested in facts. Not only is Barnett suspended, but he is banned from campus until 2016. And he won't be earning a degree from TU even after he's allowed to return to campus, making his prior investment in his theater degree wasted money.

Beyond its vindictive actions towards Barnett, the university also went after its student paper for daring to question its wrongheaded decision.

TU has also threatened the expressive rights of the staff of its independent student newspaper, The Collegian, which this week reported on Barnett’s suspension and criticized his treatment. The Collegian reports that after contacting TU administrators for comment, student reporters were told by TU’s director of marketing and communications that if “anything that the university deems to be confidential” is “published or shared, (that) could violate university policies.” The university refused to explain what might constitute “confidential” information and, come press time, the journalists were unsure what action the university might take against them.

Strange behavior for a university that claims its students are guaranteed "the rights and privileges granted citizens by the Bill of Rights." So far, the university has attacked students' free speech and arbitrarily stripped away the due process its own policies promise to students facing discipline. So much for that "guarantee."

FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) has issued its a statement condemning TU's actions:

“TU students are right to be concerned about their free speech and due process rights, given the university’s sheer vindictiveness in banishing Barnett and its treatment of their student newspaper,” said Bonilla. “We’ve warned TU about its dangerously overbroad harassment policy before, yet it continues to fly in the face of its promise that students retain ‘the rights and privileges granted to all citizens in the Bill of Rights.’ The university needs to be held accountable for breaking that promise.”

"Held accountable" likely means a lawsuit is in the works, as the university has shown no interest in rolling back its decision. A memo issued sixty days after Barnett's appeal states -- without accompanying explanations for its findings -- that all of his complaints (lack of due process, the school's decision is unsupported by the accompanying facts, etc.) are "without merit" and that the ban will remain in place. Its unwillingness to recognize the many flaws of its decision are likely going to cost it some money down the road. Standing its ground when it's so clearly in the wrong will have a chilling effect on its student body, which now knows any attendee can be punished for the actions of others.

The backlash to all of this didn't take long at all to rub the supersensitive university the wrong way. Prolific twitterer, revenge porn nemesis and erstwhile provocateur Adam Steinbaugh headed to Tulsa University's Facebook page to ask it about its stupidity, highlighting how easy it was for someone to post to someone else's Facebook page.

This post was swiftly deleted by the page admin. So, Steinbaugh asked again. This too was deleted, as were related questions and comments from others. Finally, the TU Facebook admin went full nuclear ostrich and just deleted everything posted by others to its page, whether it involved the university's vindictive discipline of Barnett or not.

Before:

After:

Nothing says you're wholly in the right quite like a deliberate and proactive avoidance of any discussion on the matter, eh Tulsa?

Memorandum Decision of Senior Vice Provost Winona Tanaka October 24 2014 (PDF)Memorandum Decision of Senior Vice Provost Winona Tanaka October 24 2014 (Text)

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Filed Under: chris magnum, free speech, george barnett, overreaction, social media, suspension, threats
Companies: facebook, university of tulsa

42 Comments

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CEP, 18 Feb 2015 @ 6:17am

Too late
"making his prior investment in his theater degree wasted money."

That ship sailed long before this incident started.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 6:23am

People still use Facebook?
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S. T. Stone (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 6:27am

College: where boys become men, girls become women, and administrators become chickens.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Josh (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 6:30am

Easy solution
Friend all the professors and the university facebook pages.
Post on all their pages the exact same thing.
Demand the same treatment for all of them.
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Mason Wheeler (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 6:31am

Re:
It's kinda like what Yogi Berra once said: "No one goes there anymore; it's too crowded!"
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 6:42am

Boilerplate, but it's still funny. From TU's Facebook ToS:

Comments posted by others do not reflect the opinions of the University of Tulsa.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 7:14am

Re: Easy solution
target the students, if they failed to protest the shit out of that backwater uni they can be part of the punishment too
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 7:14am

Re: Easy solution
target the students, if they failed to protest the shit out of that backwater uni they can be part of the punishment too
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 7:28am

Re:
Used to be that way. Now they're more and more frequently turning out SJW snowflakes who can't hack it in the real world. This isn't surprising at all. College has slowly been becoming not a place for learning, discussion and debate. It's being transformed into a place of indoctrination and coddling.
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That One Guy (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 7:41am

Re:
Well of course, I mean, how could they not include that glaring bit of hypocrisy?
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 7:44am

give a nutjob a little power and they lash out at everyone they can.

Bet the students feel so much safer with these sociopaths running their school
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 7:50am

They went full retard.
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Pixelation, 18 Feb 2015 @ 7:51am

The University of Tulsa, where you will enjoy free (redacted)
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 8:00am

Re: Easy solution
Done and done
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 8:27am

Universities are a beacon to what happens to liberty under their idea of democracy.

The crowd that preaches tolerance is the most intolerant of all!
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 8:35am

It's not "Tulsa University"
The article repeatedly mangles the name of the school.

It's proper name is "The University of Tulsa", as seen in the quotes. There is no "Tulsa University". They and everybody do use "TU" as an acronym, because in the region "UT" is the University of Texas.
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Rich, 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:15am

Re: It's not "Tulsa University"
The Internet, land of the pedants.
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jonr (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:35am

Erstwhile?
There's nothing "erstwhile" about Adam's being a provocateur; as this no doubt shows, he still is one.
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DSchneider (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:44am

Re: Too late
Came to say the same thing...Preventing him from getting his Degree!!! Outrage.... wait he was a theater major? This may be a blessing in disguise.
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Chris, 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:47am

Um you got a little bit of info wrong on this article. I did not refer to a professor as morbidly obese, it was a student who is a bully and I just let her have it. Its not defaming when it is true.
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DSchneider (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:48am

Re:
Well obviously Mr. Barnett forgot to include such a disclaimer on his Facebook page which is practically an admission that others posts DO reflect his opinions. It's really quite simple.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:54am

Oh look something about Oklahoma! But it is also about facebook, men ... I'll go ahead a click on it.

Read.
Read.
Read.

"Student George "Trey" Barnett's husband .."

*yawn*

Totally don't care anymore.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:54am

Re: Re: It's not "Tulsa University"
Whatever you say, Rick.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 10:13am

Re:
You're upset he's already spoken for?

Don't worry, there's plenty of other guys out there, and I'm sure some of them will have low enough self esteem to go out with you.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 10:34am

Re: Re: Re: It's not "Tulsa University"
Rip is quite right, Noel.
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 10:46am

Re:
Oh so you are in support of the idea that a less desirable group of people isn't entitled to the same rights as everyone else?

I might think you are a flaming asshole, but I still believe you have the right to say really fucking stupid things (and be mocked for doing so).

When one ignores these sorts of situations because they feel the victim is somehow deserving of the situation, they seem to ignore that the next time, they could be the less desirable who should just accept being mistreated.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 10:57am

Re: Easy solution
Yea and the professors will just argue that "its different"
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 10:59am

Re: Re:
does not matter what his opinion is, what matters is he did not publicly post his opinions yet was punished for doing so.
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Pronounce (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 11:26am

This Can't Be The Exception
Their actions make believe that this is the norm for T.U.. I wonder how much other dirt is covered up there. In recent news (last couple of months) many schools have been found to harbor sexual predators. Some schools don't report (this I know first hand) and so I'm guessing there is much more dirt at this school then a bit of Streisand-ish behavior over a troll post.
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Zonker, 18 Feb 2015 @ 11:28am

So who wants to post and tag the selfie of Maxwell Marion Morton with his murder victim Ryan Mangan on both TU professor Susan Barrett's and TU Senior Vice Provost Winona Tanaka's Facebook page so they can both be arrested and charged with murder?
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crashsuit (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 2:46pm

typo
I've found a small misprint.

"Tulsa University (OK" -> "Tulsa University (NOT OK)"
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crashsuit (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 2:47pm

Re: typo
Wonderful. I've created a typo in my comment joking about a typo.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 3:13pm

So that should have read "Facebook, meh." but I guess it was auto-corrected. It kind of changes the intent of the post somewhat, but not really.

From my POV this all happened because "Chris" here thought that using social media in general was a good ideal. Then it comes out that he is so-called married the "victim".

Whatever.

I have so many other things that are far more important to me than to have to spend any energy whatsoever on this tempest in a teapot.

For what it is worth, I also think that trying resolve conflicts with a bullet is about as useless as gay marriage. And if any of that runs counter to your perception of what is important, so be it. Heh. I just really don't care.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 3:54pm

Re:
You seem to find it vitally important that we all know and understand just how little energy you're interested in spending on this topic, and how little you care about it.

In the same vein, I have no interest whatsoever in bothering to quote a Scandinavian prince regarding a certain lady and her excessive protestations.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 4:51pm

"making his prior investment in his theater degree wasted money."

I think we can all agree this money was wasted before this happened.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Feb 2015 @ 5:41pm

What a bunch of cocksuckers
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orbitalinsertion (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 9:53pm

Re: Re:
Yeah, I guess they used to turn out more special snowflakes like you, bless your heart.
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orbitalinsertion (profile), 18 Feb 2015 @ 10:03pm

That's some go-for-broke authoritarian "reasoning" there.

I also like the lateral support they get from other "reasoning" sorts who find it doesn't matter since there is a male married couple and also a theater degree involved. I guess this is such an overwhelmingly bad set of characteristics for the situation that we couldn't be bothered to go all apeshit over the fact that two of these named authoritarian nutbags are women. This usually gets a lot of traction. (And usually when there is no authoritarianism involved.)

Funny, that.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Feb 2015 @ 3:28am

Re: Re:
Scandinavian Queen I believe
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Pragmatic, 19 Feb 2015 @ 6:19am

Re: Re:
What you mean assholes?

Yep, they certainly are a less desirable group. Kudos for your tolerance, TAC. I struggle to care for them.
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res (profile), 19 Feb 2015 @ 10:28am

Tulsa U's incapacity to be in the 21st century
It looks like they get their incredible decision making abilities from the NSA or the TSA or Congress or some other government body that has no clue whose country it is.
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Long John Dickns, 18 Jul 2017 @ 7:09pm

0 f**ks givn
So I actually stumbled across this after going into a wine and spirit store In south Tulsa "Trey's wine and spirits" which is apparently owned by this couple . " I wasn't impressed the selection was moot at best" a co-worker told me about this story after I told them about how one of the guys working there was eye-goggling me like a candy cane. flattering but creepy. I then of course was at work on the toilet and had some leisure time to kill and read up on this story. All I can say is F***ing Millennials can't do anything without wining and moan**g grow a pair. both of them. I mean seriously 0 f**ks givn to these morons. and who gets a theatre degree these days ? is that even useful ?
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