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Eastern Washington University blocked a professor from using the university’s Twitter account for nearly a year because of his tweets critical of university spending on athletics, The Spokesman-Review reported.
Larry Cebula, a history professor, was blocked.
David Meany, director of communications and media relations, said Cebula’s tweets were defamatory. For example, he pointed to this tweet: “For those following along at home, #EWU is still a dumpster fire, caused by the admin gutting every campus office to find even more money for the football team,” Cebula wrote. “Campus offices at half-staff, impossible to order equipment or hire student workers or get support for essential tasks.”
Meany said, “A tweet like that is disparaging to Eastern, especially since future students can easily search what’s happening at Eastern by using the #EWU hashtag.”
When Cebula last week asked why he was blocked, the social media team at the university was unable to locate a tweet disparaging football players, Meany added. As a result, he was unblocked. However, Meany said the university stands behind its decision.
