Who is Kimberly Diei? Student sues University of Tennessee for expulsion over raunchy 'remix' of Cardi B song
In September 2020, a University of Tennessee student was expelled after a disciplinary panel declared her social media posts as “vulgar,” “crude”. As per a New York Times report, the pharmacy graduate student was given two days to appeal. With the threat of a lawsuit looming, the Times reported, the dean of the college reversed the decision to expel her. But the experience left her traumatized.
On Wednesday, February 3, she filed a federal lawsuit with the help of a pro bono lawyer, arguing that the public university had violated her constitutional right of free expression “for no legitimate pedagogical reason.”
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Who is Kimberly Diei?
Diei is a 27-year-old student at the University of Tennessee’s Health Science Center. Diei studies at the university’s Memphis campus. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 2015 as a biology major, and following that, taught physics in a charter school. She wants to specialize in nuclear pharmacy, handling radioactive materials. Diei expects to earn her doctor of pharmacy degree in 2023.
As per Diei, she caters to an audience of young Black women on Twitter and Instagram. She hopes to become popular enough to make money as a social influencer. “I use words and phrases common amongst our community,” she said.
As per the Times, she made what she called “sex-positive” posts on her social media. This included a homage to rapper Cardi B, one of her idols — she made raunchy rap lyrics, just like the ‘WAP’ hitmaker does. However, after an anonymous person reported Diei to the school’s disciplinary panel, her expulsion was ordered. Speaking about the incident, Diei said, “I was sick to my stomach.”
She said that the university’s administrators appeared to be making up the rules as they go, and imposed their personal tastes to make broad judgments about student behavior. Her pro bono lawyer, Greg H. Greubel, a staff attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, compared social media speech to conversation overheard in a bar. Speaking to the Times, he said, “It’s so hard to fit old First Amendment principles into the social media era. This is one of those areas of law that needs to evolve.”
According to court papers accessed by the daily, the school’s professional conduct committee, composed of nine faculty members and three students, cited several examples it considered objectionable in Diei’s posts. The offending posts reportedly include one in which she was “contributing to a trending discussion on Twitter about the song ‘WAP’ by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion by suggesting lyrics for a possible remix.”
The report said that this, in fact, was the second time in a year that someone had reported Diei for her social media posts. The first time, the university had reportedly ordered her to write a letter of reflection. But on the second time, she received a letter on September 2, 2020, saying that her “conduct is a serious breach of the norms and expectations of the profession.”
The letter referred her to the student handbook, which says that university staff “may monitor social networking sites on occasion and egregious unprofessional postings could lead to disciplinary actions.”
Her lawsuit
Diei filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the University of Tennessee. As per the Times, her suit asks for monetary damages and for the court to declare the College of Pharmacy’s professional policies “unconstitutionally overbroad.”
Speaking to TheFire.org, she said, “It’s just a matter of time before they come back for another investigation into my expression on social media. UT spied on my social media activity — activity that has no bearing on my success as a pharmacist or my education. I can be a successful and professional pharmacist as well as a strong woman that embraces her sexuality. The two are not mutually exclusive.”
“It’s so important to me to just have my voice, because people that look like me are often told ‘be quiet, stay in the back,’ and that just does not suit my personality,” Diei said. “I’m not asking for approval. I’m asking for respect.”
“The First Amendment protects the right of students to suggest lyrics for a Cardi B remix on Twitter and Instagram. Period,” her attorney Greubel said. “Kim is an authentic and successful woman, and FIRE (The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) believes that it is important to show the public that students like Kim are capable of being successful professionals while also being free to personally express themselves on social media. Kim is standing up for every American who hopes to have a personal life in addition to their professional life.”