SUCOLitis aspires to be something like The Onion of law-school life. The Syracuse, N.Y., satirical news blog has attracted thousands of views with fake headlines about beer pong, third-year students serving burritos, and the election of the university’s “sexiest Semite.” It delights in attributing fake quotes to students and faculty, as well as to famous alumni like Vice President Joe Biden, who is quoted as calling SUCOLitis “even funnier than me.”
Syracuse University officials aren’t laughing.
The law school has threatened “harassment” charges against a student who is allegedly a writer for the anonymous blog, according to a press release put out today by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, an advocacy group known for its efforts to stop campus officials from restricting the free-speech rights of students and faculty members.
The controversy began in October, when the student, Len Audaer, learned that he was under investigation. Two months later, the university still hasn’t told him what justifies the charges or who made them, the advocacy group claims. Syracuse is demanding that Mr. Audaer sign a “gag order” to receive any information about the charges, its press release says.
A spokeswoman for the law school, Jaclyn D. Grosso, won’t discuss details of the case. In an e-mail, she tells Wired Campus only that a faculty prosecutor has been appointed to investigate claims that a student violated the code of conduct, and to file a charge if appropriate.
She adds, “According to the faculty prosecutor, a motion has been filed with the hearing panel for a protective order to prevent public disclosure of the names of the students, faculty, and staff who were targeted in the blog, or who testify in the case, unless they consent to have their names disclosed. This was done to protect their privacy rights.”
The blog is no longer public, but the controversy over its contents continues to generate lots of local press. Mr. Audaer’s supporters are also trying to take the story national—among other places, on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.
24 Responses to Blog Satirizes Law-School Life, but Syracuse U. Officials Aren’t Laughing
jffoster - December 14, 2010 at 8:14 pm
On the face of this, Syracuse should change its name to the Shystercuse Orangemen.
amnirov - December 15, 2010 at 1:47 am
Another reason why we need to support FIRE in its fight against asinine crap from universities.
fullprof99 - December 15, 2010 at 5:58 am
What morons, and I am not making reference to the bloggers. The university officials should get a life–and perhaps look to the blog for ideas on how to improve the Syracuse law school experience.
22228715 - December 15, 2010 at 7:29 am
Part of the magic of good satire is that it is subtle. If it’s impossible to get the laugh without using a sledgehammer, then either the writing or the subject is too weak for the joke (yes, comedy is a sophisticated art, and is largely in the eye of the beholder. To watch it in progress, succeeding and failing in about equal measure, watch late night talk show monologues. And those folks are professionals!)
FIRE indignation or not, I have some sympathy for the targets. It is exceptionally frustrating to have someone put words in your mouth, especially when they are really off target. I don’t know whether the practice is illegal (maybe), or against university policy (maybe, more likely), but I suspect that it might be unwise to offend and annoy your faculty and peers (now, on a national stage) when you need references in one of the worst law employment markets in decades. There are many things that one may do, but one should not do.
splendido - December 15, 2010 at 9:22 am
When I graduated Michigan Law in 1980, there were law students defaming people and making up quotes in fake printed newsletters. Now they use a blog. The medium has changed, but it seems as though the need to make up words to put in other people’s mouths is still a part of law school culture. Good think that doesn’t carry over into law practice.
splendido - December 15, 2010 at 9:23 am
“thing” (Sigh.)
drj50 - December 15, 2010 at 9:27 am
I tend to withhold judgment on stories like this, knowing that there is always more involved than a short news story can include.
But I am troubled by this statement: “Syracuse is demanding that Mr. Audaer sign a ‘gag order’ to receive any information about the charges, its press release says.” If I understand it correctly, the report alleges that the school is saying that “unless you promise not to talk with anyone else about this [i.e., like your lawyer?], we won’t tell you what the charges are.”
If true, this Kafkaesque requirement is deeply disturbing. I wish Mr. Audaer much wisdom in navigating this very difficult situation.
interface - December 15, 2010 at 9:41 am
Many if not most law schools have dedicatedly transformed themselves into meat grinders with none of the best of academia and all the worst of a corporation, including a psychopathic inability to laugh at themselves. They fit almost perfectly my personal definition of hell, and I could only imagine tolerating a sentence there if I kept my eyes on the prize of eventually being able to fight the system from the inside. So guess whose side I’m on.
marcyrw - December 15, 2010 at 10:22 am
Who are these Syr-accusators? The Comedy Police? Satire, parody – all have been the hallmarks of comedy forever, and protected speech, no matter how ridiculous the comedian makes another person or entity seem. (See Hustler Magazine v. Jerry Falwell). This is exactly what this student was “committing”. As we know, the law is complicated with respect to students and free speech, but instead of encouraging free speech among their law students, this law school has seriously blundered and made themselves, in real life now, look even more ridiculous than Mr. Audaer ever could have imagined. Just the fact that the Syracusians want him to sign a “gag order” in order to know the charges makes them deserving of unbridled ridicule. Oh, and by the way, this is EXACTLY the kind of student I would want to hire for my law firm. Unafraid, unabashed, smart and creative.
dank48 - December 15, 2010 at 10:48 am
So “Double-Secret Probation” is alive and well at Syracuse. Or is it “Double Secret Probation”?
tletzring - December 15, 2010 at 10:57 am
Syracuse is a private institution, so there is no such thing as Constitutionally protected free speech; this all comes down to institutional policy and whether or not they are abiding by it; and there are always two sides, which is why both sides always have lawyers; it would be interesting to know exactly what was stated — even in satire one can defame another. Jerry Falwell lost because he was considered a public figure. BTW SU needs to update its alumni info — Donovan McNabb plays for the Redskins now.
cwinton - December 15, 2010 at 11:52 am
Apparently SUCOL can’t take being the butt a joke. Sounds like the folks who run it are rather insecure as to the worth of the place if they feel threatened by a rather obvious shenanigan like this.
athlwulf - December 15, 2010 at 12:06 pm
So, Syracuse, how’d that suppression of free speech work out for you. At least it’s a local issue and won’t make you look like fools on the national…oh, wait. Never mind. Good luck with keeping this off of Facebook, Twitter, and your Wikipedia page.
latino - December 15, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Are they saying someone owns blogosphere? Just move your blog out of campus, sitting in front of the main door with your own computer and voilà! My idea sounds totally absurd and stupid, as the actions of Syracuse School administrators are.
With this preventive action, Syracuse Law School people distill and teach that power and fear matters over individual rights. Harassment law actually is presumably unconstitutional since preclude individuals to demonstrate dissimilar points of view that threat anyone but who is in power.
Positive things:
1)with this act, people could raise the volume of their voices.
2)you students should measure your education.
mdhitchcock - December 15, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Interesting how many people are ready to rush to a judgment on this story without having any details of what was said, who it was said about, and what harm it has caused.
11272784 - December 15, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Regardless of the merits on either side, Syracuse has handled this badly and will come out looking very, very bad. There’s no way they come out ahead in the court of public opinion.
Absent a clear case of slander or libel, they should grin and take it.
olmsted - December 15, 2010 at 2:22 pm
But is JOE laughing?
peteknudsen - December 15, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Some folks just have entirely too much time on there hands.
whm3113 - December 15, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Some days it is embarassing to be a Syracuse University graduate.
22118130 - December 15, 2010 at 7:01 pm
The spokesperson for the university is named “Ms. Grosso?” Sounds like something out of Animal House. Does she work for Dean Wormer?
richardtaborgreene - December 16, 2010 at 1:08 am
Gutless wimps throughout history make themselves a laughingstock via their actions to “protect” their precious little selves. This is an example of divine justice—enemies who are their own worst enemy. The meanest thing you can do to them is leave them alone with them selves. Let us all aspire to become better human beings than the civilizational dregs exemplified by these shenanigans.
amnirov - December 16, 2010 at 9:07 am
Hey, tletzring, Of course there is constitutionally protected free speech on Syracuse’s campus, unless you’re arguing that no one there accepts any government money at all.
drangie - December 16, 2010 at 12:35 pm
It is, indeed, “double secret probation.” But in this case, it appears that Syracuse is trying to ratchet it up beyond even Dean Wormer’s level, to Super double secret probation!
austinbarry - December 17, 2010 at 9:51 am
And what if Mr Audaer doesn’t sign the “gag order”? In the court system, there are rules in place about informing defendants about the charges brought against them. I’m assuming that Syracuse is bringing charges in the public court system. If Mr Audaer is being brought before the student disciplinary board then all bets are off, though it seems strange that a law school of all places would conduct its internal affairs in such a Kafkaesque manner.