A University of Central Florida student went viral after he posted an apology letter sent to him by his ex-girlfriend. It was not a simple apology letter as he graded it and made red marks on the letter resulting to him getting suspended for two semesters. Now he is back after appealing to the university.
The student, 21-year-old Nick Lutz, graded the apology letter with 66 out of 100. He posted it on Twitter and received 121, 000 retweets. It also garnered attention from many news outlets such as BBC London and NBC.
When your ex writes you an apology letter so you grade it to send it back pic.twitter.com/MczdjcCiil
— Nick Lutz (@NickLutz12) 17 February 2017
How Lutz got suspended
The ex-girlfriend of Lutz, who was not identified by any reports, went to her hometown sheriff’s office as well as the University of Central Florida to file a complaint accusing him of cyber bullying.
As a result, Lutz got suspended by the university because they believe he broke the honor code of their school. The posting was in February.
Lutz said that his friends urged him to grade the letter. He blocked her number and removed her from all his social media accounts so writing a letter to him was the last resort of the former girlfriend. Some of the notes written in red were “too long of an introduction,” “lots of repetition,” “lacks indents,” and much more.
Lutz appeals punishment
Lutz was represented legally by his lawyer Jacob Stuart. Stuart argued that his client’s suspension is a violation of Lutz’s First Amendment rights. Days after the suspension announcement, University of Central Florida said that they would allow the student to appeal.
The school later dismissed their case against him as they believe that it was not a violation of the Rule of Conduct. They did, however, acknowledge that the behavior of Lutz was alarming, Miami Herald reported.
The school also said that the harmful behavior, referred to as cyber bullying by the ex-girlfriend, lacked proof that the posting resulted to emotional distress that could have interfered with her activities.
Although the ex-girlfriend, who planned to attend the University of Central Florida this fall, did have emotional distress and it has affected her ability to work, study, and participate in other activities, the school believes it was not directly because of the posting but because of the attention it received.
The ex-girlfriend did not release any statement yet regarding the reversal.
Family is happy about reversal
The 21-year-old student is studying sports management. He took to Twitter to say that after a “very long process, I am pleased to announce that I have won my appeal.” He added that all the charges against him were revoked. He thanked everyone for their support.
It was a great sigh of relief that I report that the case has officially been dismissed by UCF! Thank you everyone, especially @JacobVStuart pic.twitter.com/X9xPGh0QrH
— Nick Lutz (@NickLutz12) 20 July 2017
His family applauded the decision as they believe that Lutz had the right to enjoy his freedom of expression.
