So back at the start of June, Harvard University rescinded admission for 10 students who were supposed to start there this upcoming September. This was due to a series of offensive memes posted in a Facebook group, according to story originally published by the Harvard Crimson.
These students were a part of the official Harvard Facebook group. But one day, several of them decided to go and form their own separate “comedic” Facebook group for posting memes. These memes included vile, disgusting content dealing with subjects like racism, anti-Semitism and child abuse, all presented in a lighthearted manner.
Should They Have Been Punished this Way?
According to the original Crimson story, Harvard officials have the right to rescind admission to any students who acts in a way “that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character.” It’s safe to assume that with this particular instance, it was their maturity and moral character that hurt these students.
It’s also worth noting that these students posted some despicable stuff. In fact, for those of you who are interested, there’s actually an article which shows several of the original memes the students posted to the group. Click here to see. You could easily describe most of it as just being offensive for the sake of being offensive.
Now, some would argue that this is a free speech issue. But as that saying goes, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequence. And keep in mind, these students have not been censored or silenced in any way. They’ve simply been punished for acting inappropriately.
And it’s definitely not a free speech issue as far as the first amendment goes. It’s not like the government had any involvement with this decision. It was just between Harvard and students.
Did the Punishment Go Too Far?
However, it could be argued that the punishment was still perhaps a little too harsh. Do I believe that the school should have punished them for their actions in some way? Of course. But completely rescinding their admission was perhaps a little but much.
How exactly should they have been punished? Well, it’s hard to say. Perhaps Harvard could have suspended them for a period of time. Maybe Harvard could have put them on academic probation. I imagine that there are a number of other ways that they could have been punished that may have been more suitable.
The takeaways for prospective and/or current students?
The takeaways here are pretty straightforward:
1) Your university just might be monitoring what you post on social media.
2) Yes, your university has the right to un-enroll whoever they want.
3) Although many people think a lighter punishment would have sufficed, schools are not scared to deliver harsh punishments in response to content posted to social media.
