Threatened with Suspension for Flyers About Conservative Talk, Student Considers Legal Action

A Saint Louis University student told by his school's administration he could be suspended after posting flyers advertising an off-campus lecture featuring conservative commentator Matt Walsh declined to attend the Wednesday hearing determining his academic fate.

James Dowling, 20, a finance major at the private Catholic school, told Newsweek Wednesday that after further reflection and consultation with his parents he thought it best not to meet with John Janulis, director of the University's Office of Student Responsibility and Community Standards. He is now considering taking legal action against the school, which he claimed has not only wrongly accused him but also subjected him to undue stress while he's in the midst of taking his final exams.

"I told them that they haven't given me enough time to find a lawyer and get actual legal advice on this whole matter and that I can't be at this meeting today," Dowling said, noting that both he and his parents appealed to university officials more than once to postpone the meeting until after finals week.

Instead, according to Dowling, he wasn't given a choice as to when the hearing would be held. Dowling said that Bill Bowey, assistant director in the Office of Student Responsibility and Community Standards, told him that he'd looked at his class schedule and determined Wednesday to be a suitable time.

Since declining to attend the meeting, Dowling said he's been told he now has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to submit a typed written statement defending himself and that the matter would be decided by the two administration members present when the incident took place.

It was back on December 1 that Dowling was posting and handing out flyers near Grand Avenue and West Pine, on or around university grounds, to promote that night's speaking event featuring the controversial political commentator Walsh. The talk, co-hosted by the SLU College Republicans, of which Dowling is a member, and Young America's Foundation, was to be focused on anti-abortion issues.

The event's location had been canceled twice, first by the university, which had initially given approval for the speaking engagement, and then by St. Francis Xavier Church, which is located on campus. At the last minute, students were trying to let those who wanted to attend know that it would now take place at The Coronado hotel.

Dowling said that he and two other students were approached by Jackie Weber, the director of the school's Student Involvement Center, and David Young, director of events, Busch Student Center, who expressed they were uncomfortable with SLU's name being on the same flyer as SLU College Republicans.

Weber and Young told Dowling to take the flyers down, to which Dowling offered to cross out the name where he could. More discussion ensued with Dowling stating he would come back and re-post the flyers, as shown in the video above. He insisted that he was not in violation of any school policy.

On December 9, Dowling received an email from Bowey regarding the December 1 incident. The letter alleged that Dowling was "posting unapproved signs for an off-campus event," and "that when contacted by University staff, you were allegedly confrontational, disrespectful, and failed to comply with reasonable requests made by the staff in accordance with their duties."

Dowling was cited as violating the community standards of "Failure to Comply" and "Inappropriate Conduct" and was required to attend the hearing for his "Suspendable Violations."

Newsweek reached out individually to Janulis, Bowey, Weber, Young, and Saint Louis University President Fred Pestello for comment.

The University's Public Relations Director Carrie Bebermeyer responded to Newsweek on behalf of the university, declining comment.

"In compliance with federal privacy laws, FERPA, and out of respect for our students' privacy, the University does not confirm, deny or comment on student conduct matters," Bebermeyer stated.

"SLU is vindictively targeting an innocent student for blatantly ideological reasons," Walsh told Newsweek. "I encourage everyone to contact the SLU administration and let them know that this kind of politically motivated bullying is not acceptable."

On Wednesday, Newsweek obtained a witness account from SLU student Brian Shard sent to Bowey and other SLU staff defended Dowling's conduct. Shard was with Dowling during the December 1 incident.

Nicholas Baker, president of the SLU College Republicans, alleged this is "yet another case of politically-motivated prosecution" by the university's Office of Student Responsibility and Community Standards.

According to Baker, the university had placed a prior marketing ban on the group because a previous poster didn't feature a large enough image of the "masked Billiken." The Billiken is a mythological good luck figure and is SLU's mascot. Baker said the ban never stipulated it applied to materials posted off-campus and that SLU College Republicans had permission from the Student Involvement Center to co-sponsor the event. The posters for the Matt Walsh event were printed by Young America's Foundation.

"After dealing with them when they went after the club for asking another student organization, the 'SLU Sluts,' to define the word 'woman,' and recently learning that the conduct office's director distributed copies of The Genderbread Person to students a few years ago, I have no confidence in their ability to be fair and objective in their decisions," Baker told Newsweek.

"I'm sure that my own days at SLU are also numbered now that I've very publicly expressed my disdain for the SLU's left-wing agenda, but I will spend every minute I have left defending our rights and true Catholic values, no matter how many students, faculty, and administrators disagree," he added.

Dowling said the whole situation has sullied his view of higher education.

"It doesn't feel good during finals week to have this extra burden of stress put on me—I'm just a student trying to get through my finals," said Dowling, noting his parents pay $50,000 a year for his education. "It's not a Catholic university with actual Catholic values—it's a bait and switch. I'd argue it's more of an indoctrination camp for Woke-ism. This whole thing has made me totally lose faith in SLU as an institution of higher learning."