Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: National News

Media Credit: Ann Reichel, MSU Reporter

Disciplinary hearings began in late October for a junior at Butler University in Indiana for what university officials called a libelous and threatening blog that criticized school administration.  The student, Jess Zimmerman, has contended that nothing on his blog, TrueBU Blog, came close to what the university has alleged.  Zimmerman, whose father and stepmother work at Butler, created the blog in October 2008 as a place to discuss goings-on at the university.

"I thought it would be fun to see if we could have open discussion," said Zimmerman. "Something as an alternative to websites like 'Juicy Campus.'"

Juicy Campus is a blog that posts college gossip and, as Zimmerman said, can sometimes be negative.  His goal was to create a place where positive criticism could take place. In his first blog, he stated "This is not a forum for attack.  It is a forum for truth."  Zimmerman went on to say that attacks would not be tolerated.

The blog continued through December of 2008 when Zimmerman received an e-mail to his account linked with the blog.  The e-mail was from a university lawyer and informed Zimmerman, who was still only known by the moniker "Soodo Nym",  that legal action was being exercised.  Zimmerman took down the blog, but a lawsuit was filed in January.

After several memos and statements by Butler President Bobby Fong, Zimmerman said that he felt he needed to "clear the air" about his blog.  He felt that it was being misrepresented to school officials and the public and wanted people to know the truth.  Among the things Zimmerman took offense to was Fong likening the incident to the massacre at Virginia Tech a few years ago.

Fong cited an e-mail sent to Butler Provost Jamie Comstock that threatened "more trouble" as cause for concern.  Zimmerman has denied writing that e-mail but has admitted to writing one on Christmas of last year to Comstock and Dean of the College of Fine Arts Peter Alexander.  In the e-mail Zimmerman wished the two "a very merry Christmas" and that he hadn't "forgotten the abuses of power and poor leadership".

Several out-of-court attempts were made to settle the case.  One such attempt from the university would allow the suit to be dropped if Zimmerman would undergo punishment at school and sign an agreement that he not be able to appeal any university decision.  If Zimmerman had done this the university would also have dropped a lawsuit it had against his father, Michael Zimmerman.

According to the website, "Inside Higher Ed," the Zimmerman's lawyer, Dan Altman, considered the two suits separate matters.  Father and son did not agree to the terms of the settlement which also included a confidentiality agreement.

Despite that, the suit was eventually dropped in favor of the disciplinary action, which could lead to Zimmerman's expulsion for violating the school's rules of conduct. Zimmerman said he hopes the hearing will be wrapped up in a couple of weeks.  In the aftermath of the lawsuit, he started another blog to chronicle everything going on called "I Am John Doe".

Ellen Mrja, an associate professor in the mass communications department at Minnesota State, does not agree with Butler's actions in the matter.

"This was over-reaction on the part of the administrators that makes them look weak, not strong," Mrja said. Mrja teaches a class in Mass Communications Law. "You can not stop someone from speaking their truth."

Mrja believes Zimmerman had every right to begin his blog and showed a "great deal of courage in continuing to publish it."  However, Mrja does point out that since Butler is a private university, the rules are slightly different than a state university when it comes to speech.

Erik Thibault, a junior at MSU, believes blogs should be taken as editorials for the most part and not as a reliable source of fact without documentation.  Thibault, a business management and public relations major, said that the situation may have gone differently if Zimmerman had tried a different route.

"Maybe a student newspaper or other publication," Thibault said. "The Internet is an uncontrollable source.  There's more legitimacy in a publication."

Thibault also said that, while he thinks there needs to be some responsibility by the writer, "we live in America" and should be free to "say whatever you want to say when you say it."


Adam Pulchinski is a Reporter staff writer

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