tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959155227592574505.post3384813968416394380..comments2023-07-17T08:48:44.173-04:00Comments on I am "John Doe": Faculty Confirm The True BU, 'Culture of Fear'Jess Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02934607620113188473noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959155227592574505.post-88005027629776929032009-10-30T09:39:48.759-04:002009-10-30T09:39:48.759-04:00On December 19, 2008, I wrote a message to Soodo N...On December 19, 2008, I wrote a message to Soodo Nym which contained the following statement, and ended up on the TrueBU blog. It seems to me at least as true today as it was then:<br /><br />"First, I want to say that I think there is way too much fear at Butler. Yes, this is a perilous environment in which people have been fired and punished. And, yes, some people truly are vulnerable. But tyranny<br />flourishes when conscientious and thoughtful people decline to stand up and be counted. I wish more people would identify themselves, and speak in their own voice. In my view, that’s the only way to put a stop to the nonsense that is going on at Butler."Bill Wattsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959155227592574505.post-53680680710369017162009-10-30T07:50:29.824-04:002009-10-30T07:50:29.824-04:00Has Dr. Allen shared this letter with the Board of...Has Dr. Allen shared this letter with the Board of Trustees directly? As stewards of the university the Board should be acting on correcting this serious problem of intimidation between upper administrators and the faculty and students.<br />Bill Swanson<br />Butler University, class of 1978Bill Swansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11107045022217008694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959155227592574505.post-1665761228116627962009-10-29T23:41:37.329-04:002009-10-29T23:41:37.329-04:00Well said Andrew!Well said Andrew!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959155227592574505.post-47005351066034615482009-10-29T22:41:56.964-04:002009-10-29T22:41:56.964-04:00Jess has apologized for his one instance of untrut...Jess has apologized for his one instance of untruthfulness, but I wonder if I am the only person that found his apology unnecessary. Dr. Levester Johnson told Jess that he had to meet with him, refused to let Jess bring a lawyer, and refused to let Jess tape record their conversation. In the real world--the criminal justice system--we have the 5th Amendment. In the real world, Jess could not have been forced to incriminate himself as he was in that circumstance, and had Levester Johnson been a police officer and acted the way he had, any statement made by Jess would have been excluded in a court of law.<br /><br />The school intended to scare Jess in an effort to get him to remove the blog. They accomplished this, and then tried to have their cake and eat it too by suing him. I'm tired of everyone harping on him for not being truthful about being Soodo Nym. His actions as Soodo Nym were not illegal, and the email he sent was not threatening. He had no duty to reveal that he was Soodo Nym (anonymous free speech is protected), and he did not tell the truth when asked, probably because he knew what the consequences would be--a frivolousness and expensive lawsuit and a kangaroo court on campus, run by none other than Irene Stevens, the consummate obsequious lackey of Bobby Fong and Levester Johnson. <br /><br />From my experience, the school administration has tried multiple times to pull stunts over school breaks so that students forget about them. My freshman year, they extended Butler's contract with Aramark for 10 years without informing the Student Body President or the SGA Vice President of Administration. They did this over winter break, probably so that it would be forgotten by the spring semester. Telling Jamie Comstock and Peter Alexander that the way they treated Andrea Gullickson would not be forgotten wasn't threatening and, quite frankly, it needed to be said. <br /><br />My question to all of you is: Which untruths have been more damaging to our school--Jess initially denying that he was Soodo Nym, or Bobby Fong and Jamie Comstock's weekly waffles on the school's justification for filing and pursuing the lawsuit? This is a credibility crisis--Bobby Fong and Jamie Comstock have been nothing but consistently inconsistent. We must demand that the school end any on-campus proceedings against Jess and that Bobby Fong and Jamie Comstock apologize, resign, or be relieved of their duties as President and Provost.<br /><br />Andrew Beare Jones<br />Butler University, Class of 2008Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12684472751176646277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959155227592574505.post-58672948969113513832009-10-29T19:31:35.110-04:002009-10-29T19:31:35.110-04:00It is great that the faculty have come to defend y...It is great that the faculty have come to defend you, despite the fact that they risk their jobs and must do so as though they are underground. <br /><br />I hope this proves two things to Bobby Fong and Student affairs and the rest of the admin: 1. that their allegations are ludicrous and unfounded. 2. that the have managed to scare the shit out of their faculty. Both are disturbing.The Humanihilsocialisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02632880027531222138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2959155227592574505.post-8137237276437516882009-10-29T19:29:20.173-04:002009-10-29T19:29:20.173-04:00I got a response from Alumni relations today. It w...I got a response from Alumni relations today. It was unsatisfying. They maintain that your blog contained "defamation, threats, harassment, and intimidation, directly harming the honesty, integrity, and professional reputation of Butler University and several of its administrators – including Peter Alexander." I read the blog, and I just don't see it. You have the right to say you think the dean is doing a bad job. That's your first amendment right. I really wish you hadn't sent that email and then lied about it. That's when you made yourself vulnerable to the "threatening and harassing" charges. Still, at the end of the day, Butler looks like the villain, and you should have been given a stern talking to about the appropriate use of email and that should have been that.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17580467827693054003noreply@blogger.com