A Marquette University dental student has had an expulsion reversed after the widespread publicity forced the university to back down.
The dental student foolishly made some short-tempered remarks about teachers and fellow students on his personal blog. The school responded like a three year old with a temper tantrum by kicking the student out and revoking a full scholarship.
But a local newspaper and radio station, along with bloggers, publicized the university's actions.
Aside from the irony of a university trying to censor the exchange of ideas (and everyone apparently agreed the student was foolish), it is much harder to cover up these kinds of actions today. Twenty years ago, the student might have had his budding career ruined because of a single juvenile mistake, and the university would probably have gotten away with the over the top reaction.
Like it or not, our actions are potentially subject to more scrutiny than was ever possible in the past. If your organization or business is faced with accusations (true or untrue), how you respond could become the main story. Too many organizations, like Marquette, have not adapted to the Knowledge Democracy, in which we can all be our own media outlet. Some of us have less power, and many others of us have much more power to influence events.