One of the many DU-related Facebook pages, involving a spoof on Chancellor Robert Coombe, has rapidly become a popular Internet destination for DU students.
The page serves as a platform to post satirical expressions and attribute them to the Chancellor as an inside joke among undergraduates. However, the university administration wants to take the page down because it encourages negative associations with the university’s administration, particularly the Chancellor. Taking down the page, called “Coombe Daddy,” would be an infringement on free speech and would reveal the administration as overly sensitive to harmless humor, which contributes to student community.
First of all, the page promotes university engagement. Despite the university’s attempts at promoting this on their own, it has often failed.
Now every student who has access to Facebook can come together to express frustrations about the administration, frustrations that we are never allowed to express in the Chancellor’s office hours – a rule that has been reiterated in every e-mail notification about the upcoming office hours.
The page should be left up so students can continue to engage in a sense of organic community based in a satirical Facebook page.
Furthermore, it is a free speech issue. The status updates, which students are producing, are not exactly violations of the Chancellor’s privacy. Instead, they are obviously depicting him saying things everyone knows is false, and would never actually be taken seriously.
They are similar to political cartoons or Saturday Night Live skits. In summary, they are an artistic expression of a public figure.
Surely Coombe realized that becoming the subject of parody was a risk he took when becoming chancellor. Besides, how many times has The Spit Valve parodied Coombe? As that publication has demonstrated, we have a right to express ourselves.
In conclusion, the administration should leave this page up. It is a free way to promote university culture, it demonstrates our engagement with the DU community and the administration and it is well within our first amendment rights. Plus, they are extremely funny.
Who in their right minds would quash good humor? Keep the page up, and I am sure everyone will appreciate it for the satirical humor it provides.
