Angelica Pickles meets Butler University

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

That’s the signature line from Love Story, the overly saccharine book by Erich Segal made into an equally tear jerker of a movie. Not everyone seems to agree with the sentiment of the line, however. In an episode of The Simpsons titled "Catch 'Em if You Can,” Lisa shouts, "No it doesn't!" when the line is spoken on the movie they’re all watching.

Similarly, in an ironic turn of events, Ryan O’Neal, one of the two characters in Love Story who actually uttered the line, has something to say about it in the film “What’s Up, Doc?” In that film, when Barbara Streisand’s character says the line, O’Neal’s character immediately responds by saying, “That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."

Saying you’re sorry can accomplish a lot of good things. When someone says that they’re sorry for something, it is often possible for the person hearing the apology to respond in kind – and meaningful relationships can be rebuilt.

The petition created by the Friends of Jess Zimmerman, and available on the right, has asked the Butler administration to say they’re sorry. Explicitly, the petition asks for two very simple apologies:

“an immediate apology for filing the BUTLER UNIVERSITY v. JOHN DOE a/k/a "Soodo Nym" a/k/a thetruebu@gmail.com lawuit;” and

“an immediate apology for the accusations made against Jess Zimmerman.”

The petition has now been signed by more than 900 people from all around the globe. (If you are so inclined, and if you haven’t already added your signature to the petition, please think about doing so.) These people are all looking for the Butler administration to step forward and acknowledge that the actions taken are worthy of an apology, and then to issue one.

It seems, however, that Butler has decided to model its behavior on a different popular culture icon. Angelica Pickles, a character from Rugrats, stated, “BEING BAD means never having to say you're sorry."

That demonstrates the high quality leadership of a major American university!

Run the Numbers

I want to do something a bit different than my usual posts tonight.


Let’s look at the numbers:


33,470 – The number of distinct page loads I am “John Doe” has had in the 29 days it’s been in existence

31,200 – The difference between the number of distinct page loads of "I am John Doe" over a 3 week time period and The True BU had over its entire existence

859 – The number of signatures on the petition to the Butler administration asking for apologies for their actions

140 – The number of days it took for Butler to dismiss the lawsuit against “John Doe” after they used the court system to determine that “John Doe” was me, despite the president’s repeated claim that the university never had any intention of suing a student

58 – The number of comments on the original story about this case in Inside Higher Ed, making it the third most commented upon story for the last month, the ninth most commented upon story for the past six months and the thirteenth most comment upon story for the past year

11 – The number (at the very least) of School of Music faculty members who have endorsed a statement indicating that they provided me with the documents published in The True BU, that they shared their opinions and impressions of what was happening in the fall concerning the removal of the chair, and that they believe that what I wrote was accurate and consistent with their impressions.

10 – The number of university newspapers around the country that have written stories and editorials expressing their concerns about Butler's handling of this situation and the implications for freedom of speech issues across the country

8 – The number of times people signing the petition to the Butler Administration used the word “abuse”

6 – The number of months from when my father was first threatened with the specter of a lawsuit over The True BU to the time the administration informed me that a suit was actually filed, and that was in response to a concern raised by my father about defamatory statements made about him by the provost

4 – The number of months in which the Butler administration threatened to replace “John Doe’s” name with my name in the lawsuit accusing me of libel, defamation, harassment and threats; and the number of days after The True BU was removed from the web but before the Butler administration filed that lawsuit

3 – The number of memos Butler’s president wrote to the entire university faculty in a 15 day period about me

2 – The number of my family members removed from their administrative posts at Butler after The True BU began publishing

1 – The number of times a university has filed a lawsuit over online speech, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)

0 - The number occurrences of threatening, harassing, libelous, racist or sexist comments appearing in any of my writing, despite what the Butler administration has repeatedly claimed in communications intended for audiences both on and off campus

If I had said...

Yesterday I wrote about the irony of the Butler administration regularly attacking me for being critical of them – and doing so without being able to present any evidence of their charges. Today I want to write about a related irony. Although the Butler administration regularly claims that I engaged in “defamation, threats, harassment, and intimidation,” they can find nothing to point to to support their claims. Indeed, the spoof by Amanda Congdon ridicules the language they used in their lawsuit. Imagine what the administration would have done had I described their actions by using just some of the following descriptions – descriptions that far exceed anything I wrote:

inappropriate and just plain foolish, pathetic and wholly inappropriate, absolutely shameful, juvenile, immoral, unethical, and hopefully illegal response, unconscionable and petty, Butler University is the new McCarthy, juvenile vindictiveness, outrageous display of abuse of power, unproductive, un-Christlike, and even illegal, most disgraceful example of administrative Fascism, terrible abuse of power

In fact, though, every one of these words have been used to describe the administration and their actions, but not by me. Rather they were written by alums, by faculty members and by members of the clergy. Every one of these words can be found on the petition asking Butler to apologize for its actions. And just in case you might think that the words read worse out of context than in context, here are the statements from which they came:

From a faculty member: “These actions are beyond my comprehension—inappropriate and just plain foolish.”

From a clergy member: “This legal action is pathetic and wholly inappropriate.”

From a faculty member: “This is shameful. Absolutely shameful.”

From a clergy member: “Dr. Fong and the Board of Trustees of Butler University: As one whose academic career includes both teaching and administration at universities and seminaries, I am both shocked and outraged that Butler University has engaged in such a juvenile, immoral, unethical, and hopefully illegal response to a blog by Jess Zimmerman critical of Butler University. After eight years of the Bush Administration’s attempt to subvert the Constitution in any way it could including the freedom of speech on college campuses, for Butler University to do so of its own volition is both unconscionable and petty. There are no sacred cows where the First Amendment is concerned and that includes Butler University. This entire affair smacks of a degree of immaturity and malfeasance on the part of President Fong and the Board of trustees that is startling in its magnitude. Drop the lawsuit against Jess Zimmerman. It is a gross abuse of power intended to intimidate Mr. Zimmerman from exercising his First Amendment right of free speech as well as to threaten his status a student. I well remember the reign of terror Senator Joseph McCarthy imposed on America during the late 1940s and early 1950s. From the documents regarding the entire Zimmerman affair that I have read, Butler University is the new McCarthy.”

From an alum: “Until the Board of Trustees reins in the juvenile vindictiveness of the current administration, Butler has seen the last of my donations.”

From a clergy member: “As a graduate of an Indiana College (Hanover) and former resident of Indianapolis, I am dismayed at this outrageous display of abuse of power so contrary to the goals of higher education.”

From a clergy member: “It is sad that so many otherwise sane and gracious people can be so insecure in their organizational of theological "orthodoxy" that they resort to unproductive, un-Christlike, and even illegal ways to hide those insecurities from the public.”

From a faculty member: “This is the most disgraceful example of administrative Fascism that I have ever seen. As a Prof. Emerita, I have been proud of being associated with higher education for my career, but this suit and treatment of a student by Butler University shames all of us. What is happening to academic freedom.”

From a faculty member: “I recently retired from college teaching and have never heard of such a terrible abuse of power by any college or university.”

Recall how the administration attempted to turn my promise that students would not forget, over the long semester break, what the administration did at the end of the fall semester into a threat that warranted a law suit. Compare my promise [“I know you wanted me (and all students) to forget over the holiday, but I assure you that I have not.”], with what some others have written on the petition and imagine what the administration would have said had I written any of these things:

“A university, any university, is a symbol of learning and inquiry. To work against free speech is to work against that which a university, any university, stands for. The administration may not like the light in which it stands at the moment but that is the nature of freedom. Those who seek to hide in the darkness will die in the light.”

“This action must help repair more than just the name of Butler University, it must repair and reverse the oppressive and power mongering attitude of leaders and decision makers of Butler University. This is a Goliath action and behavior. Remember Goliath was killed by the shepherd boy David and a few stones. Before Goliath types are slain in the courts, and the hearts and minds of all people who desire doing what is right, just and fair, consider these two simple steps to bring about peace and reconcilation. Use your wisdom, not intellection power and legalism, to do what is right.”

“Bobby Fong needs to go!!!”

Yes, these statements are far more extreme than anything I wrote, and yet, like my writings, they too are not threats. Rather, they’re using language creatively to make points – points that can be distorted when taken out of context. That’s exactly what the administration did with my writing in their lawsuit, what they’re doing in their disciplinary proceedings and what they’re doing when they attack me in the notes they send out to everyone who complains about their actions.

It’s a shame that Butler administrators have been unable to understand the importance of reading language in context and the importance of allowing opinions to be expressed.

For all I know, they may be taking action against all of the people I quoted here. After all, if they really believe that what I did was wrong, these people really must have crossed the line.

If you haven't yet signed the petition to Butler administrators asking for apologies for their actions, please do so now - it only takes a second. And, while you're there, think about writing a comment of your own: freedom of expression is a wonderful thing!

I am Still "John Doe"

Two days ago, I reported that the president had announced that the school did not, has not, and will not sue me. Unfortunately, the actions of the University again don’t match up with president’s words. The “John Doe” suit remains active in Marion County court.

Since the lawsuit is still open, the school can substitute my name for that of “John Doe” whenever they want to. Are they going to add my name later today? Tomorrow? Next week? Four months from now? Is the president making promises now that he can break once he feels enough people have forgotten? These are questions that I find myself debating almost constantly. The president has said that the school will not sue me. If he intends to make good on that promise, then the school should dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice. Given how often and how forcefully I’ve been threatened with this lawsuit, I won’t believe that they don’t intend to sue me until it is dismissed.

Yet the lawsuit sits, open, ready, and waiting. I believe it is not just a threat to me, but to each one of you who might ever dare to question authority. When you check the court dockets for the status of the Butler v. “John Doe” case, it is hard to imagine what the university wants you to think. Could it be that they want you to believe that “John Doe” might be you? I think, in a very public way, the Butler University administration has decided to say, “Do you want this to happen to you?”

This is simply not right. To date, nearly 600 people have signed a petition calling for the administration to apologize for filing the lawsuit and to apologize for the accusations made against me. Many of those who have signed have also left very strong comments:

“It is inconceivable that a University would operate in a climate of fear and that it would sue a student for a blog, anonymous or not. What are Butler students learning about honor and settling differences and free speech?”

-Reverend James F. Mulcahy

“Too many colleges and universities are using their resources to bully and intimidate their faculties and students. This case appears to be an egregious example that is a disgrace to Butler University and the whole of the Academy.

-Bruce A Voyles, Ph.D.

Grinnell College

“I would think that the brightest scholars in the world could handle a little lively on-line candor better than this. I think I can scratch Butler off the list of possible colleges for my three kids if this is the way they resolve things with students. I sure would not want one of my kids treated this way.”

-Reverend Max Ramsey

“As a lifelong academic I am appalled that a student's freedom of expression is being curtailed and threatened. This defies basic human goodness and decency.”

-Steve A. Wiggins, Ph.D.

If you have not signed the petition, I urge you to consider doing so. If you have signed it, go back and read what our friends on campus and around the country are saying. Their statements are very moving and provide a markedly different perspective than the one Butler administration is promoting. The petition can be found by going to www.ipetitions.com/petition/butler

Right now, I am “John Doe.” The president seems to want you to believe that you too can be “John Doe.”

Don’t let the administration scare you: They scared me once and I sat down, silenced. Now, I’m standing again and I don’t intend to go anywhere. I appreciate those of you who are standing with me and I’m confident and hopeful that together we will make a difference.