Student prohibited from graduation for Facebook comments

Facebook and college go hand and hand these days — students read up on each other, share funny videos, send messages, and publicize those embarrassing photos from the night before. At Saint Augustine’s College, however, posting the wrong thing on Facebook will land you in hot water.

The Raleigh, N.C., college prohibited senior Roman Caple from participating in his class’ graduation because of a “negative social media exchange” he had on Facebook regarding the school’s response to the April 16th tornado damage.

What Caple is being punished for is encouraging his peers on SAC’s Facebook page to go to the school’s public meeting to argue for what he thought was the best way to respond to the tornado damage.

“Here it go!!!!!” he wrote. “Students come correct, be prepared, and have supporting documents to back up your arguments bcuz SAC will come hard!!!! That is all.”

Several days later, Caple met with SAC Vice President for Student Development and Services Eric W. Jackson, who that same day informed Caple that he would not be allowed to walk with his class.

In a letter to Caple, Jackson explained that the reason for his prohibition was the Facebook comments, adding that “[a]ll students enrolled at Saint Augustine’s College are responsible for protecting the reputation of the college and supporting its mission.”

While graduation has already happened, without Caple participating, the student is still fighting the decision. His attorney, Brandon S. Atwater, has sought help from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

“While it promises free speech, Saint Augustine’s College has apparently rolled out a brand new, unwritten ‘don’t challenge our decisions on Facebook’ rule that warrants keeping a student out of graduation ceremonies,” FIRE senior vice president Robert Shibley said.

And what identifies this guy as a “trouble-maker”, the fact that he disagrees with the school administration? I’d be curious why the school is so unwilling to engage in any type of dialog and wants to silence dissent.

Only going by what I read in the article, it would appear that he enjoys stirring up controversy and has done so on multiple previous occasions. Whether the "trouble" is simply a disagreement with the school administration or a malicious intent to disrupt meetings between the administration and other students (or some middle ground between those two positions) would require more information that is available, making my inferences from the data presented in the article no less and no more valid than yours. As for why the school is "so unwilling to engage in any type of dialog" an equally valid question might be why this young man is so determined to disrupt the dialog that the school is attempting to engage. After all, the school had already scheduled a meeting with the affected students for a dialog on the issues and this student posted his little challenge advocating a confrontational approach and accusing the school of pushing back against solutions. Who is really the obstacle to dialog here?

I understand the concept of distance learning (in fact I have taught online university courses with students literally located all over the world while taking my course) so I understand that off-campus students are part of the student body. While the off-campus students are equally a part of the campus community as the resident students, their opinions would not necessarily be equally informed, nor would they hold equal status as stakeholders and participants in a discussion regarding resolution of issues related to on-campus damages from a tornado.

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