My letter back from the Vice President for University Operations

Okay, so I got a letter from a UT Vice-President today, in response to my letter (which is at the bottom of this page).

March 16, 2010

Mr. Gregory Foster
**** Lynnbrook Drive
Austin, Texas 78748

Dear Mr. Foster:

Your letter to President Powers dated March 10, 2010 was forwarded to me for response because The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD) is a department within my portfolio.

I understand that you were asked to leave the Trudy's suite at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on March 9, 2010. According to reports by UT Athletics personnel and UTPD officers supporting the event, you and several companions were asked by a Longhorn Foundation staff member to tone down your profanity and heckling because it was disturbing many of the other patrons attending the game. The stadium manager had also received several complaints. After observing that your group had no intention of complying wiht stadium policy, your group was asked to leave. Athletics staff requested the assistance of two UTPD officers to ensure your departure.

Texas Athletics promotes a sportsmanship initiative that is published online: http://www.texassports.com/ot/makeusproud.html. It is also included in their fan guides. The initiative includes the following language:

* "The NCAA and The University of Texas promote good sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches and spectators. We request your cooperation by supporting the participants and officials in a positive manner. Spectators are reminded that they are prohibited from entering the playing area. Negative comments directed at officials, student-athletes, coaches or team representatives are grounds for removal. The NCAA, the Big 12 Conference and The University of Texas thank you for your cooperation."

Additionally, as a member of the Big 12 Conference, Texas Athletics shares the values expressed in their Sportsmanship Statement containing the following:

* "The member institutions of the Big 12 Conference are committed to competition in an arena where sportsmanship and the sense of fair play take center stage. Whether on the field, within the community or in the classroom, those who make up the Big 12--its administrators, coaches, game officials, and student athletes--support the highest ideals in sportsmanships.

"At the heart of sportsmanships is the commitment of the institutions towards respect for the opposition and those officiating contests in the 21 sports sponsored by the Big 12. It is with a sense of fair play that a true sporting demeanor in the spirit of intercollegiate competition can be created and maintained with a total regard for the welfare of student-athletes, coaches, support personnel and spectators.

"Sportsmanship on the field of play is governed by Conference rules and guidelines, as well as those established under the NCAA and amateur organizations. It is the responsibility of game officials and administrators to see to strict adherence to these guidelines. The behavior of spectators is managed by event personnel, who are encouraged to deal with interference or abuse of appropriate sporting behavior in the strictest of methods.

"The Big 12 Conference and its member institutions appreciate the support of the majority of fans who wish to create an atmosphere of competition that allows the participants to showcase the game and their respective skills."

Our attorneys have reviewed the materials you sent regarding First Amendment rights at sporting events and we do not believe they are applicable here. Attendance at a University of Texas at Austin sports event is by a ticket which constitutes a revocable license to attend the event contingent upon the ticketholder complying with the University's policies. We believe the University has the right to enforce its reasonable rules concerning the conduct of patrons at our events, and we will continue to do so.

If you believe that you were mistreated by either or both of the UTPD officers, you may file a formal complaint by following the directives outlined in The University of Texas System Police Policies and Procedures Manual No. B-9. You can locate the entire policy at: http://www.utsystem.edu/pol/policies/B-9/%20Complaint%20Investigation.pdf

I earnestly hope that your next visit to the UT campus will be a more pleasant one.

Sincerely,

Pat Clubb, Ph. D.
Vice President for University Operations

cc: Mr. Jim Baker, Texas Athletics
Chief Robert Dahlstrom
Mr. DeLoss Dodds
Mr. Jeff Graves
President William Powers, Jr.

My letter to the President of UT

Gregory Foster

**** Lynnbrook Drive

Austin, Texas 78748

fostergregd@gmail.com

(469) ***-****

March 10, 2010

William Powers, Jr.

The University of Texas at Austin

PO Box T

Austin, Texas 78713

President Powers,

I am writing to you this morning to express my disappointment in being removed by university police from the baseball game between the Longhorns and Texas State Bobcats last night. I have been attending sporting events my entire life, and have never once before been forced to leave by the police. I believe this is a very bad reflection of the (apparently low) level of import placed on the First Amendment right to free speech by your university’s police department.

I am an alumnus of Texas State University-San Marcos. So are many of my close friends. We were invited to attend the game last night and to sit in a suite. We gladly accepted, with the knowledge that we would be there to root for our university’s baseball team. From the time we got settled in to out seats, we started cheering for our team, and loudly. I went downstairs to get a hamburger, and I could hear my fellow Bobcat fans in their seats, cheering “Eat ‘em up, Eat ‘em up, Go, Cats, Go!”

At one point during the baseball game, there was a very close call, which went against the Texas State team. We felt that we had a great vantage point to see that the wrong call had been made, and we were upset at it, as fans often are. One of my friends who was in attendance did, at this point, briefly use profanity, as he was caught up in the moment. Another of my friends then reminded him that it was not polite to use profanity.

At least thirty minutes later, a gentleman who identified himself as “an assistant Athletic Director” came up to our suite and asked everyone present to please come inside, which we did. The gentleman explained that there had been some kind of complaint and that we needed to tone down our cheering. We explained that we had already discussed the use of profanity and agreed that we would avoid saying anything offensive, but that we were going to continue to be vocally supportive of our team.

At this point, I was standing in the seats, rooting for my Bobcats. I was being loud. I was “heckling” in that I was yelling at the player batting, but I was not being offensive. I can give you one example. I noticed that one player on the Longhorns team was from Plano, Texas. I yelled, “The tolls (on Dallas North Tollway) are $1.25—That’s a rip-off!!!” Others in our group, in their efforts to be loud but not offensive, were saying things like, “Bobcats: Continue to hit the ball well!” I noticed that the gentleman who had spoken to us was now standing in the empty suite next to ours, monitoring our behavior. At this point, there was absolutely no profanity coming from our seats.

A few minutes later, I was quite surprised to see three university police officers in our suite, along with the same gentleman who had spoken with us before. They said, “Everyone here needs to leave right now.” We expressed our disappointment that the situation had reached this point—vocally—but we left. I was standing in the hallway waiting for everyone to leave the suite when I caught the attention of the police officer who was standing right outside the door of the suite. “Are you waiting on something?” he asked, with his hand on his holstered pistol like some gunslinger in a Clint Eastwood film. At this point, an older gentleman, an alumnus of your university if the color of his shirt is any indication, noticed what was happening. He came out of his suite, which was next to ours. “This is bullshit,” he said. He got in the cop’s face. “You can’t kick them out! I have been right here the whole time, and they didn’t do anything wrong!”

This situation is embarrassing for your university. The man who identified himself as an assistant Athletic Director was surely embarrassed that a handful of fans of the visiting team could be louder than the entire stadium full of burnt-orange-wearing UT fans. On a much more serious note, it is particularly disturbing that people who are guilty of no greater infraction than being loud fans at a sporting event would be forcibly removed from their seats by university police. It seems imperative that you find a way to educate your police officers on when they have or do not have the authority to remove people from a university event.

I am including a copy of “Cheers, Profanity, and Free Speech in College Sports”, written by Howard M. Wasserman of Florida International University’s College of Law. A quick glance at this short paper will remove any doubt that your university’s police department broke Constitutional law by removing us from the game. I take our civil liberties, and the First Amendment in particular, very seriously, and I hope that you do as well.

Very truly yours,

Gregory Foster, Alumnus, Texas State University-San Marcos

Enclosure

CC: Robert Dahlstrom, Chief of Police

DeLoss Dodds, Athletics Director