University of Wisconsin – Superior: Complaint Over Student Newspaper’s April Fools’ Day Edition Leads to Formal Investigation

At the University of Wisconsin – Superior, a formal investigation was launched into the student newspaper the Promethean’s 2016 April Fools’ Day edition days after its publication, in response to a graduate student’s complaint that the newspaper’s articles were offensive and not clearly labeled as satirical. The university condemned the Promethean in a lengthy Facebook post on April 14, announcing that it was investigating the paper and that it “will not tolerate any form of disrespect - not on April Fools Day or any other day.” After FIRE sent a letter to the university on April 20, 2016, administrators quickly closed the investigation.