Universities Weblog

In a controversial decision that lit a fire under the debate of free speech, Le Moyne College kicked student Scott McConnell out of the education program last year, after McConnell wrote a paper endorsing corporal punishment.

After a full year of legal battles, courts have finally ordered the college to reinstate McConnell into the program.

Inside Higher Ed reports:

A New York appeals court on Wednesday ordered Le Moyne College to reinstate Scott McConnell as a master's degree student in education. The court found that the Syracuse college violated McConnell's rights and the institution's own policies when it kicked him out of the program a year ago.

McConnell was prevented from enrolling in the spring 2005 semester after Le Moyne officials became aware that he had written a class paper endorsing the use of corporal punishment in the classroom. The letter dismissing him from the program expressed "grave concerns regarding the mismatch between [McConnell's] personal beliefs regarding teaching and learning" and the college's philosophy.

While McConnell never retreated from his endorsement of corporal punishment — in certain instances — in the classroom, he also said that he would abide by the rules of any school in which he worked. He sued the college, charging that his rights had been violated because he was expelled without receiving the standard due process Le Moyne promises to its students.What do you think? Perhaps because this incident follows so closely on the heels of another violation of free speech, we have to wonder if this is a new trend. Do colleges have the right to limit how we express ourselves? Or is the idea of expressing ideas unhindered still a crucial part of higher education?

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