The juiciness of JuicyCampus.com just got a little more juicier.

According to a Nov. 19 press release, Tennessee State University has blocked access to the forum Web site JuicyCampus.com. The move makes TSU the first public university to ban the site from its servers.

Because TSU owns the Internet servers it provides to students, they have the right to set limits and restrictions to whatever they want. Because JuicyCampus.com is a forum and not a campus organization or a university-funded presentation of ideas, it is not censoring speech, but rather limiting access to this one particular Web site. Additionally, the university is offering the use of the Internet to its students and it is not their right to have it. Therefore the university has the right to limit what they desire because they are providing the amenity.

However, the move is not the smartest. Students who really want to talk negatively about the university on JuicyCampus.com can simply go off campus and do so. Many students likely live off campus and can freely access the site anyway. Also, students can still access other forums and social networking sites from the campus network, allowing them to essentially do the same thing they could have been doing on JuicyCampus.com except on a different site. Where does the university draw the line in limiting what students can access using their network?

The move is more symbolic than anything, showing students the university does not approve of the behavior they exemplify on the site. The university is essentially showing students they should be acting like adults, and by not doing so on the site, they will have their privileges revoked. The site is reminiscent of high school and is extremely distasteful. The university should not have been pushed to make this decision, but rather students should not have been using the site. They instead should grow up and deal with their problems in a mature fashion instead of resorting to talking behind peoples’ backs and not dealing with possible conflicts.