10名哈佛新生发毁三观表情被开除
美国哈佛大学学报《深红报》日前报道,至少有10名已经被哈佛大学录取的新生被取消入学资格,原因是他们在脸书私聊小组中发布涉及种族歧视、儿童虐待等极端言论和图像。有人质疑学校的做法违反言论自由的精神,但也有人认为三观都不要了,还有资格谈言论自由?元芳,你怎么看? At least 10 students lost their chance to attend Harvard College after posting "obscene memes" to a private Facebook chat, the main Harvard student newspaper reported. The memes included jokes about pedophilia, child abuse, sexual assault, and the Holocaust. 比如,一个表情包是墨西哥小孩在学校浴室上吊,配文是“皮纳塔时刻到了”。 注:皮纳塔是一种由装饰纸、陶土、布料做成的容器,皮纳塔游戏是这么玩儿的: 另一张图片中,一个企鹅站在烤炉旁边,配上一段对白:“太好了,犹太人快烤好啦!” The memes were shared as part of a private Facebook chat where admitted students in the class of 2021 shared edgy jokes as part of a "just-because-we-got-into-Harvard-doesn't-mean-we-can't-have-fun kind of thing", an admitted student told the Harvard Crimson. The paper quoted a number of students from the incoming class, who had a range of responses, including two who said it was the right approach to withdraw the offers. "I do not know how those offensive images could be defended," one student said. At least two Harvard professors, however, questioned the decision to withdraw the offers. Alan Dershowitz, an emeritus professor at Harvard Law School, told the Guardian that losing admission to Harvard was a "draconian punishment" for "very bad taste jokes that students were sending to each other". "It sounds like Harvard is intruding too deeply into the private lives of students," said Dershowitz, who has represented a series of high-profile clients, including OJ Simpson. "It may affect them for life," Dershowitz said. Harvey C Mansfield, one of Harvard's most outspoken conservative professors and the author of a book called Manliness, also told the Guardian he questioned the decision. "The bounds of what is offensive have been extended and distorted, and I no longer trust the bent judgment of politically correct enforcers." A spokeswoman for Harvard University declined to comment on the report. "We do not comment publicly on the admissions status of individual applicants," Rachael Dane wrote in an email. The official Facebook page for students admitted to join the Harvard Class of 2021 warns students that "Harvard College reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission under various conditions including if an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character". Dershowitz said this guidance was too vague to provide students with any real understanding of the school's expectations. "When you punish a student seriously without articulating standards, I think it raises questions," he said. 而法律专家表示,在这种情况下,哈佛新生的言论自由是不受保护的,哥伦比亚大学法学院教授凯瑟琳•弗兰克(Katherine Franke)称: “These students have absolutely no free speech rights that were violated in this context." “The First Amendment’s Free Speech protections apply only to violations by public entities, and since Harvard is a private university the First Amendment does not apply,” she said. 乔治城大学法律中心宪法教授苏珊•布洛赫(Susan Bloch)称: "The Constitution really doesn't apply here. The Constitution limits how much government can suppress speech, not a private university," she said. 早在去年,哈佛大学的新生群组就出现过类似的情况。当时,校方只是发布声明予以谴责,并没有处以开除的处罚。 Meme-sharing Facebook groups have become a new college tradition, Mic reported last week, with students across the country trading inside jokes and fighting battles with rival universities via screenshot and caption. The names of some of these public Facebook groups, Mic reported, were "Harvard Memes for Elitist 1% Tweens", "UCLA Memes for Sick AF Tweens" and "USC Memes for Spoiled Pre-Teens". The private Facebook group chat that led to offers of admission being rescinded was named, at one point, "Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens", the Crimson reported. |