Judge Refuses to Bar Suspension of Newsletter Author

A Pomona Superior Court judge has denied an ACLU request for a restraining order to block Claremont McKenna College’s suspension of a student for publishing an allegedly obscene newsletter.

After reviewing several copies of the Wohlford Free Press published by the 19-year-old student, Bradley Kvederis, Judge Wendell Mortimer Jr. decided Tuesday that the weekly newsletter “may well contain obscene and libelous material and, therefore, [is] not constitutionally protected.”

Mortimer said the publication and other conduct by Kvederis “appear to have the potential to create a hostile environment and could have become the basis of sexual harassment claims if the college did not take the action it did when it did.”

Kvederis said Wednesday that his suspension and the judge’s ruling have come as a “total shock.”

“It has been blown up into this big deal when it started as a joke,” he said. “It is a pretty horrible thing they are doing to me.”

Disagreeing with the judge, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Carol Sobel said she had sought the restraining order because Kvederis “has an absolute 1st Amendment right to print what he wanted to print.”

“Admittedly, Kvederis uses profanity, but that is not enough,” Sobel said. “To be obscene, the material has to graphically depict sexual acts, appeal to the prurient interest and be totally devoid of redeeming qualities. It doesn’t meet that test.”

Sobel said that three women students who complained about the publication were not mentioned in it, except for one reference about their drinking one weekend.

“That isn’t libelous,” Sobel said. “There has to be a false statement of fact [for libel]. Where is that statement?”

The newsletter--named for a dormitory and distributed for several weeks last fall on the campus of the small, selective liberal arts college in Claremont--is replete with scatological language and references, most of them in connection with the purported recreational activities of students at the college.

Drinking, sexual activities and human excretion are featured subjects. In the “Scandal Rag” column, these activities--never described in detail--are attributed to various identified students, both men and women. Kvederis said Wednesday that he used the real names of actual students.

*

A column by “Johnny Gestapo”--a Kvederis pen name--editorializes against restrictions on underage drinking, boring professors, “McDonald’s that charge you for extra barbecue sauce” and “people that can’t speak English.”

Asking why anyone “would come to a country where everyone speaks English, if you can’t speak it,” Gestapo complains about the number of foreign language stations on cable television.

According to the college, four students complained about the publication, saying that it violated campus rules prohibiting “lewd, indecent or obscene conduct” and actions that “injure, degrade or disgrace another person.”

Kvederis also was accused of “mooning” fellow students and using foul language.

The accusations were heard two weeks ago by a judicial board consisting of a student, a faculty member and three retired judges.

“It was one of the longest hearings in memory--10 hours,” said Geoffrey Baum, a spokesman for the college. “Each side had lots of witnesses.”

After the hearing, Kvederis was suspended with the provision that he can enroll next fall if he completes an approved sensitivity training program. Kvederis appealed the decision, but the college turned him down.

He left the campus April 10. Five days later, the ACLU’s request for a temporary restraining order blocking the suspension was turned down.

“The student’s argument was that his constitutional rights were being violated, but there is no constitutional right to attend college,” Baum said.