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Cruel IntentionsUncensored, racist, and shockingly nasty, online gossip forum Juicy Campus has students trembling. But should it be banned?This article is from the July/August issue of Radar Magazine. For a risk-free issue, click here. 
As for J.D. Rees, his only infraction was sticking up for a friend. Rees, a lanky 20-year-old international relations major, was vaguely aware that Juicy Campus had started a discussion forum dedicated to his school, the University of San Diego, but he didn't pay it much attention until his roommate and fraternity brother, who we'll call Michael, came home one day in a state of near-despair. Someone had authored a post—anonymously, like almost all Juicy Campus posts—identifying him as a heavy drug user. Michael was, in fact, struggling with addiction at the time and "really took it to heart in a way that wasn't good," recalls Rees. "So I went and checked it out and said, 'Whoa, this is ridiculous.'" 
And that's how, soon after, Rees found himself the target of a Juicy Campus post titled "In the Closet." "Who is a fag that hasn't been outed yet?" began a thread that would eventually receive 109 replies (the most of any post yet on the USD board) and an 82 percent Juicy rating. Here's a taste of the relentless barrage that followed over the next few weeks, which ultimately resulted in Rees's cell phone number being published online: RE: IN THE CLOSET: Definitely J.D. Rees. What heterosexual would start an a RE: IN THE CLOSET: This is a Catholic school, and homosexuality is a sin! If For the record, Rees is not gay, nor is he the kind of straight guy to whom being called gay is a mortal insult. "I think it's a tribute to my character that they can't level any legitimate claims against me," he says. "It's been sort of funny, but at the same time ..." 
Interesting article. I wish you'd mentioned the grassroots measures students have taken to stop the site, ranging from the goody-goody (Princeton's "wall of love") to the wickedly funny (Yale's month-long "spamming" of the site with serious intellectual topics, gossip about gossip girl and other non-sequiturs). Also, while Ivester claims that he doesn't delete any content (and thus is not responsible for any of it), he definitely does. By my estimation he's probably deleted about 300 Yale topics, including a shockingly long rape fantasy thread about a single student-- deleted only when it dawned on him that the student in question probably had a great lawyer. He (and is lawyer) have also made scores of harassing phone calls and emails to students. Posted by: omgcantwait on July 1, 2008 11:26 AM As a student of group dynamics, I found this article fascinating. I just happened to write a paper on the topic of scapegoating in groups (from a non-professor perspective, the definition wld be that often people in a group chose someone on whom to project fear, distrust, and other negative emotions that they don't want to accept in themselves)... This site appears to enable this phenomenon in an extreme fashion. Thank goodness I'm not in college anymore - don't think I could take the viciousness. But I'm glad to hear that Yale students are doing something positive - and funny - to counteract the unproductive nature of this site... I guess humor's always a good antidote. Thanks to the previous poster for the added insight! Posted by: mnd9y8 on July 3, 2008 7:52 AM I don't understand. This Ivester clearly needs to be a little bit more afraid of the people he's attacking. Isn't the answer to give him a nice hard beat-down? Just imagine a hard fist smashing into his nose, breaking it in three places and splattering blood all over his face. Or solid-steel knuckles smashing into his cheekbone right under his eye, breaking it and giving him a mouse that he would remember for weeks. Or how about an open palm slapped hard against his ear? That might hurt! I remember back in the '60s, when the president of Columbia tried to talk to the students, a tough guy just came up behind him and brought his balled fist down hard right on the top of his head. That's what Ivester needs, regular beating. C'mon, you pukes, get to it! Posted by: wladimir on July 3, 2008 3:59 PM And to think that I come from the same University as Juicy....they must be so proud Posted by: bitterwaitress on August 26, 2008 9:56 PM Advertisement |
 
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