Grove City suspended 21 year old John Gechter for his gay porn career which he used to finance his college education. Gechter was due to graduate this year and begin graduate school in the fall. Gechter is appealing the decision, claiming that his work in the porn industry under an alias is not the school's concern.
Grove City feels otherwise, citing the school's Christian based policies on student conduct. Students are required to abstain from sexual activity. Grove City says that Gechter's sexual orientation was not a factor in their decision. Gecheter identifies as bisexual.
Oh my. I'm not sure I believe Grove City and here's why:
But on April 23, a fellow student found Mr. Gechter's ample body of work on the Internet and forwarded evidence of his secret identity to friends. By the next day, Mr. Gechter estimated that the e-mail had reached two-thirds of the student population — and he'd landed in a meeting with administrators.
Two-thirds of the student population are viewing pornography and Grove City seemingly takes no action. Why was the student who discovered the offending video surfing for pornorgraphy in the first place? Don't tell me he just happened to find it. If he took such offense, why not discreetly share this information with the school administrators out of Christian love and compassion? Isn't the intent to ridicule and mock Gechter a problem?
Then there is this.
He says he's received nearly 200 “hate mail” e-mails from other students and has even been pelted with fruit salad in the cafeteria.
Ah, more Christian conduct on the part of other students. That code of conduct doesn't seem to have quite caught on with the Grove City student body.
The code of conduct can be found here. Here's the relevant portions.
Disciplinary Probation for either a definite or indefinite period; and/or a
One-Week Suspension or longer from the College; and/or a minimum fine of
$50.00 (assessed at the discretion of the Vice President of Student Life & Learning); and or
Discretionary Assignments ordinarily results for the following conduct violations:
Use of immoral, pornographic, vulgar, or obscene music or material including, for
example, possessing pornographic literature (including obscene material on a computer
system), posters and videos.
I get that Grove City wants to uphold their code of conduct and Gechter knowingly violated it. But I wish the PG reporter had explored any school history of disciplining students over their sexual conduct. I'd also liked to know how they plan to discipline the student who surfed for porn (consumers drive the industry after all) and for attempting to smear Gechter's reputation by spreading the information to other students. I'm also interested in how they plan to respond to hate mail, especially hate mail sent using University resources. Especially if that hate mail is rooted in homophobia.
B) Suspension for the remainder of the semester or Dismissal may be
assessed for the following conduct violations:
Threatening or actual bodily harm or harassment or presenting an imminent danger to
any person.
Which is worse — filming a porn flick or threatening another person? Sigh.
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