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[marigolds]

(This is not actually a Chronicle article, but an IHE one, so move this if it's in the wrong place!)

I'm wondering what folks think of the administrative decision to kick this student out. I followed the link to his Facebook page and read some of his responses to the situation, and while he is not a super-clear communicator (and knows that his communication style caused part of the panic, I think), from the little I've read he seems to be saying some interesting things about it.

I understand risk mitigation, of course, but ... This seems excessive to me.  Maybe the psych eval showed something that hasn't yet been released? He's coming off to me as more of an awkward young person with odd social skills than a whack job.  And he actually sounds kind of sweet. 

[canuckois]

It seems excessive to me as well.  The whole story is a bit sad.  I was a shy and somewhat isolated person in my first year of college as well, so I can relate to the spirit of the letter, if not perhaps to the way he wrote it.

[larryc]

It seems excessive to me as well.  The whole story is a bit sad.

Yes. My first reaction as I began to read the story was "Poor kid, I hope he does not have an unusual name or Google will hang this around his neck for the rest of his life."

He does have an unusual name. Poor kid.

[kaysixteen]

Anyone think ZooMass would have a prayer of winning should the kid sue?

[betterslac]

The whole thing should have been handled by a low level administrator (the head resident of his dorm, for example) and then dropped when it was apparent he was just a bit socially inept. How many drunken students do stupid, dangerous and threatening things every weekend? Are they all kicked out?

It's good to see the student newspaper has some sense and takes the poor kid's side. At least not all other students are so hypersensitive and have such a herd mentality that they can accept someone who is a bit different. If one can't be different in college now and must be a loafer-wearing drone lest one be thought of as a potential mass murderer, I think we are going to be even more intellectually, culturally and artistically diminished in the future.

[anisogamy]

That's sad and upsetting.  I was an awkward and lonely student myself once, and UMass seems to have seriously overreacted here.

[educator1]

If expressing oneself in "socially unacceptable ways" was reason for getting kicked out of school, half of my freshman class, including myself, would not have made it to our sophomore year. While I certainly don't have all of the facts here, it does appear that somebody jumped the gun, at least.

[punchnpie]

This is sad. I don't know why the school couldn't have talked to this kid, even get him a psych eval, without kicking him out so quickly.

It's too bad that what looks like an attempt to get people to meet up at a spot they'd all know, turned into a fear that they'd be walking into an ambush.

[chaosbydesign]

This is sad. Is there more to the story? The letter doesn't make it sound like he was planning anything nefarious at all.

[systeme_d_]

This is truly sad.  An awful overreaction by UMass, in my opinion.  Hypervigilance gone too far, as most hypervigilance is apt to do.

[marigolds]

Reading other posts on his Facebook make it even more sad. His FB is completely public, by the way. He seems to be getting a lot of support and new friends on FB--perhaps in a weird roundabout way his offer of friendship has been accepted more warmly than if he'd gone about it more traditionally.