Florida Student Suspended for Harsh Tweet of Ex's Apology Note

Last February, a Florida college kid named Nick Lutz took a red pen to the apology letter his ex-girlfriend left under his windshield, annihilated it for spelling and grammar errors, and then posted it on Twitter. Although it got the 21-year-old interviews with international news outlets like the BBC, the whole thing seemed like a pretty standard human interest story that would immediately be forgotten after the next viral stunt.

But five months later, Lutz found his way back in the news after the University of Central Florida decided to suspend him. According to the rising senior's Facebook page, the school determined he had been "disruptive" and "harmful" by posting the photo. Though the decision can be appealed, Lutz has been tasked with crafting both a presentation and a five-page paper about the harm he caused when he returns to classes following the two-semester suspension.

Jacob Stuart, who's a family friend representing Lutz in his appeal, told the Miami Herald that the ex-girlfriend wasn't identified in the tweet and that there was nothing untrue or derogatory written in the notations to the graded letter—which Lutz gave a 61 percent, or a D-.

Despite the fact that Lutz's ex reportedly felt like she had been cyberbullied, Stuart says that punishing the student for writing, "Long intro, short conclusion, strong hypothesis but nothing to back it up," is a clear case of chilling his right to humorous speech.

"It was obvious he was making fun of her," Stuart told the Herald, "but that's the beauty of the constitution."

Lutz has yet to file a complaint against UCF, but in recent months many students punished for their use of social media have fought back with litigation. Although the bulk of those cases have involved racist speech made by high schoolers, the scenarios sparking these incidents seem to be growing more varied. Most recently, the parents of a middle schooler in Ohio sued administrators for punishing their son over comments he'd left on a Instagram fan page for evil clowns.

"He doesn't want money," Stuart told the Herald. "He doesn't want anything. He just wants to go back to school and graduate."

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