We recently covered the case of Matthew Werenczak, a Syracuse University student defended by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) after being expelled for Facebook comments.

His comments were about an experience as a tutoring event, during which condescending remarks about white tutors were made. As one of only two white tutors in the room, Werenczak was uncomfortable.

Now, the FIRE team is back on campus defending a law school student.

“Syracuse University tried to derail my legal career simply because of a blog that satirized life in law school.”

In 2010, Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) student Len Audaer was summoned to a meeting with Associate Professor of Law Gregory Germain, where he was told he was being investigated for “extremely serious” charges, which included allegations of “harassment.”

The charges being investigated stemmed from Audaer’s alleged involvement with SUCOLitis, an anonymous, satirical blog about life in law school meant to emulate The Onion.

“[The posts] were extremely frivolous in nature and there was nothing malicious about [them],” says Audaer in FIRE’s latest video. “They were designed to just lampoon everyday life. We had one about our class president being elected out and being replaced by a beer bong. It was very popular with a lot of students at the time. People liked that it was a little break in the monotony of what’s a pretty dull experience at times at law school.”

Despite the light-hearted nature of the posts, a disclaimer posted on the website indicating that “no actual news stories appear on the site,” and a lack of clear evidence of Audaer’s involvement with the site, the university pursued its investigation for 120 days, during which time SUCOL proposed a gag order to prevent Audaer or his attorney from talking publicly about the case, as well as to prevent any media outlets from reporting on it.

It was only after Audaer got in contact with FIRE that the university began to back down.

“Because of FIRE,” says Audaer, “Syracuse University College of Law stopped prosecuting me for exercising my right to free speech.”

Following Audaer’s ordeal at SUCOL, he transferred to Northwestern University Law School. After graduating in December 2012, Audaer joined FIRE’s Legal Network, offering his legal services to students who, like himself, are victims of censorship on campus.