On Sept. 20, Belmont University freshman Justin Woodard was expelled from the school for making a controversial post on his personal Snapchat the night before. The post was directed toward three African-American Philadelphia Eagles players holding up their fists during the National Anthem rather than holding their hands over their hearts in protest of police brutality. The caption on Woodard’s post included racial terminology and suggested that the players be shot or leave this country.
What Woodard said in his social media post was uncalled for and unnecessary. I do not agree with his word choice, and I understand the controversy involving the caption. However, I would also say that expulsion is a very extreme consequence and was not a suitable punishment for this action. If the post had mentioned the university or if Justin’s Snapchat account was somehow affiliated with Belmont, I could understand the frustration of the school and would absolutely be unopposed to the decision. However, the school was never mentioned, and the post in no way said that Belmont or its students as a whole felt a certain way. Since Woodard made the post on his own personal account, and since the first amendment promises freedom of speech, while what was said was not appropriate, it was also not a legal violation.
Another issue is that even after Belmont’s decision to expel the student, they continued to discuss it on at least three social media sites: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If none of these posts about the situation were made, the majority of the public would not have even known that it happened, and the incident would have been kept between the school and Justin—the way it should have been. If the Snapchat post became well-known and people started questioning the school, then it would have been OK to write a response, but putting out the information from the start only publicized what happened and honestly made the school look worse. Because of the school’s own posts, more people are hearing the story and therefore more people are thinking less of the school.
The whole situation was handled wrongly. The school’s decision to expel Woodard was made way too quickly, taking less than 24 hours for security to escort him out of class. The extremity of the punishment was too much and took away Justin’s freedom of speech. The school’s own publication of the situation made the matter a bigger issue than it should have—and would have—been. Justin Woodard’s life is potentially ruined now because of one stupid thing he said at the age of 18 or 19.
I absolutely agree that black lives matter. In fact, I believe that all lives matter. I have friends of all races and colors, and I treat each of them equally. I am in no way defending what Justin said; instead, I am simply defending his rights and suggesting that Belmont made a rather extreme and quick decision. I realize that my view on the situation is an unpopular opinion, but as an American and as a Belmont student, I am willing to offer it anyway.
