Columbia University Walks Back Anti-WikiLeaks Advice
In an email to students last week, SIPA’s Office of Career Services warned students that tweeting or posting about WikiLeaks on Facebook could endanger their job prospects with the federal government, according to an alumnus working at the U.S. State Department.
Generally, probably a good idea to vet phonecalls from an alum before promoting their message to the general alumni body. Just saying. But the response from Dean Coatsworth was good:
December 6, 2010
Dear SIPA Community,
Last Tuesday, SIPA’s Office of Career Services received a call from a former student currently employed by the U.S. Department of State who pointed out that the U.S. government documents released during the past few months through WikiLeaks are still considered classified. The caller suggested that students who will be applying for federal jobs that require background checks avoid posting links to these documents or making comments about them on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter.
OCS emailed this cautionary suggestion to students, as it has done many times with other information that could be helpful in seeking employment after graduation. We know that many students today share a great deal about their lives online and that employers may use that information when evaluating their candidacy. Subsequent news stories have indicated that the Department of State has issued guidelines for its own employees, but has not issued any guidelines for prospective employees.
Freedom of information and expression is a core value of our institution. Thus, SIPA’s position is that students have a right to discuss and debate any information in the public arena that they deem relevant to their studies or to their roles as global citizens, and to do so without fear of adverse consequences. The WikiLeaks documents are accessible to SIPA students (and everyone else) from a wide variety of respected sources, as are multiple means of discussion and debate both in and outside of the classroom.
Should the U.S. Department of State issue any guidelines relating to the WikiLeaks documents for prospective employees, SIPA will make them available immediately.
Sincerely,
John H. Coatsworth
Dean
So, the response is fine. That a place like SIPA would instinctively send out a post telling students to watch what they post online implying potential government reprisals in the hiring process is tantamount to implying government reprisals elsewhere as well. It’s about as dangerous a precedent a university could set and is a terrific and leading indicator for public understanding of these complex issues.
“That seems really dark…”
“No, no, no… it’s not dark. You’re misunderstanding me, bro.”