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ā€˜Milwaukee Journal Sentinelā€™ Covers Marquette/Dave Barry Controversy

The FIREā€™s recent case at Marquette University where an administrator removed an innocuous quote by comedian Dave Barry from the office door of graduate student Stuart Ditsler, claiming the quote was ā€œpatently offensive.ā€ The quote read: ā€œAs Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful, and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government.ā€
 
In a bizarre twist, the article claims that Marquette President Robert Wild sent a letter to FIREdated October 16, claiming that the offending quote was removed from the door because it had no attribution thus ā€œsomeone reading the quotation may not have understood the humor/satire of Dave Barry.ā€ First, this is a dubious claim since the content of the quote is in question, not who said it. Second, in FIREā€™s letter to Marquette, FIREasked for a response by October 11 and, while Marquette claimed its letter was dated October 16, as of today, FIREhas received no letter from Marquette. Itā€™s possible the letter was sent and FIREhas not yet received it; itā€™s more likely that the letter was backdated by Marquette when the school came under pressure from press and alumni following ¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½ā€™s October 18 press release. It wouldnā€™t be the first time FIREhas seen such tactics.

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