A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a Memphis graduate student’s social media posts were protected speech after the University of Tennessee Health Science Center temporarily expelled her from the school over posts made to the student’s private social media accounts in late 2020.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that graduate student Kimberly Diei’s social media posts, which had no connection with the university, could not be used to threaten academic punishment.
“This ruling confirms what I’ve known all along,” Diei said. “I have a right to express myself in my private life that’s separate from school, and so do my classmates. I enrolled in pharmacy school to learn, not to have my taste in music and my thoughts on culture policed.”
The decision reverses a lower court’s August 2023 ruling that dismissed the case, sending the case back for further argument.
“Diei’s speech did not identify her with the College, had no connection to her studies, and did not lead to disruption,” the ruling stated. “So unless the College had a genuine educational purpose for regulating Diei’s speech, her communications fell safely within the confines of First Amendment protection.”
The case centered around a number of posts made on Diei’s personal social media accounts between 2020 and 2021. The accounts, under a pseudonym and with no mention of her university enrollment, contained various posts about fashion, song lyrics and sexuality — one post central to the complaint, for instance, was a joke made about a remix of Cardi B’s song “WAP.”
More: UT College of Pharmacy student says she was expelled over social media posts, files suit
Diei was investigated twice by university administrators over her posts after the school claimed anonymous complaints were made about what administrators said were “sexual,” “crude” and “vulgar” posts.
The school’s Professional Conduct Committee voted to expel her from the pharmacy program in late 2020, claiming her actions violated the school’s “professional behavior requirements” — requirements Diei stated she had never received.
The expulsion was reversed after lawyers from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, commonly known as FIRE, wrote a letter to administration affirming Diei’s First Amendment rights to post on personal social media.
Shortly after, Diei filed a lawsuit against the university alongside FIRE.
Following the lawsuit dismissal in August 2023 and Diei’s subsequent appeal, the Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic at Vanderbilt Law School filed an amicus brief in support of her case.
“It is perilous for higher education institutions to stifle protected expression,” said Jennifer Safstrom, director of the clinic. “If schools are permitted to punish student speech online merely for being perceived as distasteful or lewd, it would have a significant and impermissible chilling effect on expression in collegiate and professional schools.”
FIRE praised the appeal court’s Tuesday decision to affirm Diei’s First Amendment rights.
“The court affirmed what a young woman says about sexuality on social media has nothing to do with her ability to be a pharmacist,” said Greg Greubel, a senior attorney at FIRE. “Kimberly stood up for every American who hopes to have a personal life in addition to their professional life.”
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The USA TODAY Network – Tennessee’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Memphis pharmacy student wins appeal over ‘vulgar’ social media posts
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