Harassment Charges for Student Who… Told Joke [Gasp!]

No joke: A University of Oregon
student was charged with five separate code-of-conduct violations
for shouting a kind of funny, vaguely inappropriate four-word
phrase out the window of a campus dormitory.

The female student was at a friend’s room inside UO’s Carson
Hall when she decided to stick her head out the window and shout,
“I hit it first,” at a random couple on the street. The couple
yelled back at her and then later reported the incident to the
floor’s residential advisor. The RA then made the student
apologize.

The student contacted the
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which shared
these details because of what happened next:

That did not end the matter, however. On June 13, the student
was shocked to receive a “Notice of Allegation”
letter charging
her with five separate conduct violations for her
four-word joke. In addition to dubious allegations of violating the
residence hall’s noise and guest policies, UO charged the student
with “[h]arassment,” “disruption,” and “[d]isorderly conduct.”
…

As FIRE noted, the Supreme Court has
defined peer harassment in the educational
setting as conduct “so severe, pervasive, and objectively
offensive” as to effectively deprive the target of educational
opportunities or benefits. The student’s isolated, four-word
comment plainly fails to meet these criteria.

Harassment and disorderly conduct for making a lame joke? That
sounds crazy, although if you read the campus’s absurdly broad
anti-harassment
policy, the student no doubt violated it:

“Harassment” means (a) Intentionally subjecting a person to
offensive physical contact; Unreasonable insults, gestures, or
abusive words, in the immediate presence, and directed to, another
person that may reasonably cause emotional distress or provoke a
violent response (including but not limited to electronic mail,
conventional mail and telephone) except to the extent such insults,
gestures or abusive words are protected expression;

Hurting another person’s feelings may be wrong, but it isn’t a
criminal action, and it shouldn’t be subject to sanction at any
university where the First Amendment applies.

If the administration decides to proceed with these charges, the
student has her choice of an “Administrative Conference,” where
decisions are final and “restorative justice” or “conflict
resolution services” are likely outcomes, or a “Student Conduct and
Community Standards Panel Hearing,” where possible punishments
include suspension and expulsion and the standard of proof is “more
likely than not” to have occurred.

FIRE is insisting that UO drop the charges and alter its
policies to comply with free speech requirements.