The Office of Judicial Affairs indefinitely suspended Joe Giordano, a senior philosophy major, for violating the student code of conduct after reviewing a case brought against him by his former roommate.

Giordano, general manager of WERW and one of the founders of the ‘CUSE Project, was suspended Oct. 28 by a panel of five students with the Office of Judicial Affairs for threatening and slandering his former roommate in May, Giordano said.

‘It’s an illegal suspension, and I’m fighting the school on First Amendment free speech rights,’ Giordano said.

Giordano has been fighting for reinstatement since his suspension, and created a Web site, savejoe.org, to petition the university to readmit him. He is also considering filing a lawsuit and is currently speaking with his lawyers.

‘What I did was wrong; it wasn’t against the school codes, but it was mean and immature,’ Giordano said. ‘I called him some derogatory names and I got in trouble for that, basically.’

Responding to a Judicial Affairs complaint he said was filed by his roommate, Giordano admitted posting a Web site with his roommate’s private song lyrics taken from a diary and photographs with his roommate’s face digitally inserted in an insulting way.

Giordano denied ever threatening his roommate with physical harm, although instant messenger conversations between the two contained references to threats of violence against one another, according to documents Giordano says were used in the judicial board’s decision.

Giordano also admits that he made derogatory homosexual insults, although he says he never made any anti-Semitic comments.

‘Even if it offends some people you still have a right to say it so long as it’s not illegal,’ Giordano said. ‘I’m not saying what I’ve done is justified in any way, but what the school has done is not justified either.’

Previously Giordano had hoped that a law firm called theFIRE.org would take up his case, but said they have since denied his request.

Giordano said that although he believes he is innocent of any crime, his punishment for violating the first three sections of the code of student conduct did not match the severity of the allegations with which he was charged.

‘My punishment is the second most severe punishment just short of expulsion,’ Giordano said, referring to the fall 2003 Office of Judicial Affairs CARE report. ‘If you check the Judicial Affairs actual statistics from last year, people who actually punch somebody out could have gotten less of a punishment than I have.’

In the CARE report, a student found guilty of harassment was suspended, but only for an predetermined period.

The Office of Judicial Affairs declined to comment on Giordano’s case.

‘The specifics of individual cases are confidential to protect the privacy of all involved,’ university spokesman Kevin Morrow said. ‘In the instance of Joe Giordano, the process was followed and no further process is available within the University Judicial System.’

Giordano said he believes he was punished severely because his roommate’s father has given large contributions to the school.

The university refused to say how much money his roommate’s father donated in total, but according to the 2003 Report of Donors published in the winter 2003 to 2004 issue of Syracuse University Magazine, he is a gold-level member of the Society of Fellows, which means that he donated at least $25,000 to the university between July 1, 2002, and June 20, 2003.

‘Regarding (Giordano’s roommate’s father) and whether he has made donations to the university, an individual’s contributions are a private matter between the donor and the university,’ Morrow said. ‘Whether an individual has contributed to the university has no impact on outcomes reached in the University Judicial System.’

Giordano is one of the founders of the ‘CUSE Project, which hopes to open a new music venue to the university area. The project originally focused on the old site of Konrad’s Sports Bar, but has since relocated its hopes to the basement of the Schine Student Center.

He is also the general manager of WERW, a student radio station.

‘I do so much for this school as far as making it a better place to be, and by taking me out of the equation now there’s so many more people that have to do so much more work because they have to pick up where I left off and get used to what I was doing,’ Giordano said. ‘They’re only hurting the school.’

Giordano expressed his cynicism about the Office of Judicial Affairs’ decision.

‘What does it accomplish?’ Giordano said. ‘I’m still in the community, I’m still going to be involved in this community, so all that it does is prevent me from going on campus.’

Published on November 8, 2004 at 12:00 pm