There was a 2003 Federal Lawsuit against VSU's Free Expression Area but it was brought by traveling fundamentalist Christian preachers and not by students or faculty. The preachers were concerned that their right to call passing students "whore mongers" and "drug addicts" were being infringed because they had to call ahead 48 hours and give up their prime spot on the cafeteria steps and go stand on the little stage next to Langdale Hall instead.
The judge, predictably, was not sympathetic to the preachers. How a judge would rule if a student brought suit against the Free Speech Area is another matter. A matter that the F.I.R.E. "legal network" is now weighing for possible legal fees.
All of this leaves VSU's national reputation as tattered as an Alabama Redneck's sister's hymen.
Here are the facts as we know them with the deplorable details linked:
- VSU was sullied in a major article in the Wall Street Journal on the free speech rights of students. That's a little over 2 million of the most influential eyes in the United States reading about my Alma mater. My diploma began screaming as it felt its value draining from its veins. Nooooooo!
- Former VSU President Zaccari was one of the recipients of a "muzzle" from The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. The story was picked up by hundreds of newspapers nationwide. Now my diploma is trying to pull itself off the wall and jump to its death.
- A Federal Civil Rights suit has been filed not only against VSU but personally against a who's who of VSU administrators. The amount of $$$ damages has been left open. The State of Georgia as a matter of statute, does not purchase insurance. Has your wallet started wriggling like a kid with hookworms? Are you tired of these anthropomorphic metaphors yet?
Note to the plaintiff: Any sane lawyer will be willing to settle for anything to keep this comedy from the jurors. You are in the driver's seat. Sooo... while negotiating the large dollar figure for your settlement, agree to take a little less if they name the parking garage after Dr. Z. Not all justice should be monetized. - A Google search for "VSU" and "free speech" will bring up 8,270 citations that include negative articles in the Chronicle for Higher Education, Huffington Post, Newsmax, Inside Higher Education, the Daily Kos, every Free Speech and legal blog in cyberspace, and hundreds of newspapers. The story has been featured on Fox News with Britt Hume. By way of reference, a Google search for "valdosta state university football championship" comes up with 7,890 hits. A Google search for "valdosta titletown" yields just 3,300 hits.
And, speaking of the news media, how much of these facts have you heard or seen? This is why my number one source for local news is a Google Alert set for the keyword "Valdosta". Most of these facts I have given you are not new to me.
Prez Z resigned nearly a year before his previously announced December 2008 retirement date and some blogs credit this to VSU's legal problems. In a twist of unintended irony, The Valdosta Daily Times final editorial thanking the Z-man said, " the era of Dr. Ron Zaccari will be felt for years to come".
When it comes down to it, Dr Z did more damage to himself than poor T. Hayden Barnes ever did with his silly little photo collage on Facebook. The good Dr has started programs, built buildings, and carved a path on campus that does him credit but, like the tragic heroes of old, a personal flaw took him down.
A prominent person like Dr Z will not have his obituary written by the secretary at the funeral parlor. Most of the major newspapers and wire services have a "dead file" where they update the obituaries of prominent people so that the information will be quickly at hand when the grim reaper comes. An incident of national coverage like this one will legitimately be a feature of that final press release.
