Former Grad Student Sues
to Get His Thesis into the Library
Chris Brown, a recent graduate of the University of California/Santa Barbara science program, filed a lawsuit against the university in early July for refusing to keep a copy of his master’s thesis in the library. The June 1999 thesis, a study of the growth of abalone shells, ran into trouble when library staff noticed that instead of the usual acknowledgments section, Brown included two pages of “disacknowledgments” critical of faculty members and containing profanity and insults.
Brown later removed the comments when school officials balked about granting him a degree, which he finally obtained in May, the Associated Press reported July 10. However, Graduate Division Dean Charles Li said the faculty does not “wish to put their stamp of approval” on his vitriol by retaining the paper in the library.
The suit was filed in federal district court in Los Angeles on the basis of Brown’s First Amendment right to preface the paper in the way he intended.
Posted July 17, 2000.
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