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!