Another Friday staff meeting, another threat from Student Affairs.Last week, it was a vague warning that I might be arrested for trespassing if I showed up as a volunteer adviser.
This week, it's a vague warning that the editor-in-chief might be hauled before a student conduct board if I show up as a volunteer adviser.
Here's what happened since yesterday's surreal post:
EIC Karla Bowsher called FAU attorney Audra Lazarus – because student media director Marti Harvey said that's where the threat of disciplinary action came from. But Lazarus issued the longest "no comment" I've ever seen...
We’re not going to have any comments. I’m not going to have any comment on anything related to this issue, so you probably don’t want to go ahead and even mention what the issue is, because I won’t be commenting on it. I wanted to pay you the courtesy of a return call, but, like I said, we won’t be commenting, nor does my office comment.
Read Karla's full transcript here.
While Karla was getting no-commented, I was hearing quite a few comments from the ACLU of Florida. Legal director Randall C. Marshall told me, "The most egregious thing is that you're prohibited from talking to the students anywhere. It's strange."
Marshall said he'll follow events closely to see if FAU takes any disciplinary action that would violate the students' rights.
Meanwhile, the SunSentinel tried to find out if Karla was heading for a student conduct hearing – a somewhat shadowy proceeding that only allows "one advisor" to be present. (I wonder what would happen if Karla chose me as her adviser yet again?) Punishment can range from community service to expulsion.
Reporter Scott Travis got a much shorter non-response...
I called university spokeswoman Kristine Gobbo, who declined to comment, saying federal law prohibits them from discussing student conduct issues.
But the last paragraph of his blog post astonished me...
FAU’s head of student media said last week Koretzky could come back week after week as a guest speakers if students filled out the paperwork. Gobbo said she would check to see if the university’s position has changed.
So does that mean I will indeed get arrested for trespassing? Nothing would surprise me anymore.
