University of Central Florida Reverses Suspension of Student over Twitter Post

A student at the University of Central Florida’s suspension for two semesters over publicly criticizing an apology letter his ex-girlfriend had sent him in February has been lifted.

After University of Central Florida student Nick Lutz blocked his ex-girlfriend’s cellphone number and social media accounts, she wrote him a handwritten apology and placed it on his car’s windshield. Lutz posted the screenshots of the letter on social media complete with his red-pen grammar and spelling corrections.

He gave the four-page apology letter a 61 out of 100 grade. “Long intro, short conclusion, strong hypothesis but nothing to back it up,” Lutz wrote. “While the gesture is appreciated, I would prefer details over statements. Revision for half credit will be accepted.”

When your ex writes you an apology letter so you grade it to send it back pic.twitter.com/MczdjcCiil

— Nick Lutz (@NickLutz12) February 17, 2017

Weeks after the tweet went viral, Lutz was told by University of Central Florida administrators that he had violated the “disruptive conduct” and “harmful behavior” clauses of the student conduct code.

“I think the damaging thing here is how does UCF decide what’s morally harmful?” Lutz’s attorney Jacob Stuart said, arguing that suspending Lutz is a violation of his First Amendment rights. “There was nothing derogatory about it. It was obvious he was making fun of her, but that’s the beauty of the Constitution.”

In response to media criticism and increasing legal scrutiny from groups like the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the University of Central Florida announced on Wednesday afternoon that Lutz’s suspension had been lifted.

JUSTICE IS SERVED! Congrats to @NickLutz12 ! pic.twitter.com/39ZvgvAf88

— Jacob V. Stuart, Jr. (@JacobVStuart) July 19, 2017

“Mean speech about another person is not unprotected by the First Amendment,” Ari Cohn of FIRE said. “If it was a campaign of harassment where he called her house every night at two o’clock in the morning, then perhaps there would be a hat to hang those charges [in the original suspension] on. As it stands, he posted the letter once … in fact, the state’s attorney declined to prosecute the cyberbullying [charge].”

Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com