Thread by @aaronsibarium

Some people have claimed that my article left out crucial details that exonerate the Yale Law administrators. This excellent follow-up from FIRE shows that, on the contrary, the added details is even more damning. Let's walk through some of them: 🧵

thefire.org/how-yale-law-s…

The administrators "repeatedly reference[d] their administrative roles — the need to produce a final 'report' to the university’s administration, the possibility of a 'formal recommendation' for bias training"—and "at no time" assured the student his speech was protected.

"Even if Colbert was being deliberately provocative"—and there is no reason to think that he was—"his speech is still protected by Yale’s explicit promises of free expression. But those policies were no obstacle to Yale administrators."

"Colbert asked for more time to think about it, to which Cosgrove replied, 'I want you to take time, so that you can be comfortable with the decision you reach,' but 'with a situation like this, people start to escalate' and 'defusing it is always the most effective way to go.'"

"In a follow-up conversation that evening, the administrators again encouraged Colbert to apologize... Cosgrove told Colbert it was 'your call' and they were not there to 'strong-arm' him, but said he shouldn’t expect the matter to 'just die' if he didn’t do anything."

"Eldik said he had to do a 'write-up' about the incident to submit to the university, and it would 'make sense' to have at least one more conversation before that. The exact nature of this 'write-up' remained a mystery to Colbert."

"If the process to this point merely involved persuasion and resembled a voluntary mediation (and even that is highly questionable), Eldik’s unclear mention of a 'write-up' began to move it into more coercive territory by suggesting it was a formal administrative matter."

“I’m not trying to make you write something you don’t want to write,” Eldik said, before telling Colbert how to write the apology: “I think it’s important to say in the first few lines...[that] you just want to . . . apologize for any upset, frustration that this has caused.”

"Eldik also noted that he hadn’t made a 'formal recommendation' for...bias training because Colbert had done so much 'active listening' and...'been so receptive to a lot of what' Eldik had said.' Here again, Eldik invoked his authority to impose consequences on Colbert."

"At the end of the meeting, Eldik told Colbert, 'I don’t have to do my job like this. I want to do my job like this.'

He then left Colbert with these ominous words: 'You’re a law student, and there’s a bar you have to take...'"

"As The Free Beacon noted, the state bar character and fitness reviews often involve close scrutiny of an applicant’s record and background...This is why even informal investigations can have continuing consequences for students, even when they’re exonerated."

"Administrators who depart from their institution’s promises of free expression risk not only damage to their own institution’s reputation, but to students’ futures — even if they don’t mete out punishment."

"In a follow-up conversation with Eldik on Sept. 18...Eldik said he didn’t 'foresee' that the matter would 'connect with the bar just yet.' When pressed on what he meant by 'just yet,' Eldik responded that he didn’t see how the situation would 'come from us to the bar.'"

"Colbert also asked about the administrators’ 'write-up.' Eldik replied that the write-up doesn’t mean that the matter is 'over'...[and] told Colbert that even after he puts 'something in writing' to the university, it wouldn’t make the situation 'go away.'"

"After not hearing anything for the next several days, Colbert emailed Eldik and Cosgrove on Sept. 22 for updates on the write-up. Cosgrove replied they would not 'write anything up until the matter is resolved and the matter is not resolved.'"

"On Sept. 29...Colbert emailed Cosgrove and Eldik various questions, including...whether there was any possibility he would face discipline, and whether Yale might report the incident to the bar.

That email went unanswered for almost two weeks."

The administrators' "conduct was more than just an attempt to persuade or convince. It was an abuse of power and a clear departure from what Yale boasts are its core values. The university’s excuse that no formal investigation occurred is woefully inadequate."

"Eldik and Cosgrove were, at best, exceedingly vague about the process the student was undergoing and what consequences he might face if he failed to cooperate. Their fleeting assurances that the process wasn’t adjudicatory or punitive became less and less reliable."

"If administrators want to invite a student to participate in an informal and optional conflict resolution process, the burden is on administrators to make clear...that participation is wholly voluntary and that the student will not [be punished] for declining the invitation."

"If a student has to ask the administrators to clarify, they’ve already overstepped their bounds and have disregarded the potential chilling and coercive effects of their actions."

*details are