Austin Tong, a rising senior studying business at Fordham University, was recently banned from campus after posting an image of himself holding a legally purchased rifle. In a previous post, Mr. Tong also shared a picture of David Dorn, with the caption, “Y’all a bunch of hypocrites.” Dorn was a retired police officer who was murdered while protecting a local store during a riot in June. Many have criticized Black Lives Matter for failing to protest the death of David Dorn, who was African American. These two posts were made on June 3rd and June 4th.
In a letter composed on July 14th, Keith Eldredge, the Dean of Students at Fordham University, notified Mr. Tong that a student conduct hearing had found the posts to be in violation of the university’s policies regarding “bias and/or hate crimes [and] threats/intimidation.” As a result of his alleged transgressions, Mr. Tong was barred from serving as an officer in any student groups, banned from campus, and instructed to complete the remainder of his degree online. Additionally, Austin was ordered to complete mandatory implicit bias training and write a letter of apology. He has refused to do so.
In an interview on The Joe Silverstein Podcast, Brett Joshpe Esquire, who is representing Mr. Tong stated, “He’s not going to be forced into issuing an apology when he did absolutely nothing wrong.” Mr. Joshpe went on to emphasize the importance of protecting freedom of speech in academia. “[College campuses] are supposed to be places where vigorous debate can happen… It is precisely the controversial topics that need to be protected vigorously and college campuses are exactly where those debates should be taking place.”
The case of Austin Tong is not an isolated incident. Increasingly, we have seen conservative students, faculty, and organizations systematically targeted in higher education. At Cornell University, Professor William Jacobson became the target of a smear campaign after criticizing Black Lives Matter. In an unprecedented move, Eduardo M. Peñalver, Dean of Cornell Law School, harshly criticized Jacobson for his extramural political speech. Petitions, student boycotts, and allegations of racism quickly followed. Similarly, at Binghamton University, the College Republicans were suspended after tabling to promote a forthcoming event featuring Dr. Arthur Laffer. The university claimed the College Republicans were in violation of university and Student Assembly policies and publicly rebuked the group in a statement. However, the administration failed to take punitive action against violent agitators who assaulted and threatened the conservative students.
Since Fordham is a private university, they do not have the same first amendment obligations as their public counterparts. However, they do have a responsibility to adhere to their own published policies regarding freedom of speech. Consequently, Joshpe Mooney Paltzik LLP filed an Article 78 Petition alleging that Fordham acted arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of its own policies. “We are prepared to fight for people like Austin Tong, who are prepared to fight for themselves.”
