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UND'S RESPONSE TO OUR WEB SITE

The University of North Dakota at Grand Forks supports every individual's privilege to exercise his or her First Amendment right to free expression. However, the University states emphatically that the accusations found on a Web site attacking various units and individuals are false and/or unfounded and defamatory. The site in question was established by a disgruntled former student.
It is the policy and practice of the University that all students receive proper consideration and due process in accordance with established University rules and guidelines in disputed matters such as those described at the Web site. We encourage you to visit the home page of the University of North Dakota, one of the nation's finest institutions of higher education.

Charles Kupchella, President

OUR REPLY

Dear President Kupchella:

 1) The First Amendment to the United States Constitution made applicable to the States by the First Amendments secures a right; it does not confer a privilege.

2) Whether the complainants are "disgruntled" or some of the complaints are "defamatory" is irrelevant. The only question is 'are they true?'

3) The University appears to state that some unspecified charges are false and others merely are defamatory. By setting up that distinction the University would appear to admit the truth of the latter charges.

4) Whether this Web site was first established by a victim of UND's policies and acts is irrelevant as this site now draws the contributions of numerous authors from within UND and both former and present UND employees, faculty members, and students hardly impugns the veracity of the articles and certainly no more so than the self-serving abjuration of UND.

Moreover, unlike august UND, we provide either copies of documents or excerpts or references of citations thereto.

Also, UND claims in its response that it is "one of the nation's finest institutions of higher education." In the opinion of most critics, with the exception of the UND School of Aeronautics, which is not a recognized academic subject, UND is not regarded as being one of the finest or leading institutions in the United States, nor does it pay salaries that are commensurate.