Kansas City Art Institute Student Reinstated After Provocative Tweets

Again . . . 

We contend that getting kicked out of art school was probably the best thing that ever happened to this provocateur. 

Now that he's back in art school . . . His parents will be forced to pay top dollar for a degree path with very little upside potential.

However . . . Here's a peek at his argument for social media free expression -- An art form even lower on the scale of public respect than mimes . . . Take a peek . . .

“When we have an art school investigating and punishing students for their artistic expression, we have a real problem,” said FIRE program officer Sabrina Conza. “Ash should have never had their academic future threatened because an art school didn’t like the type of art they shared on their personal social media account.”

Mikkelsen retweeted sexually explicit Japanese-style cartoons, known as hentai, on their personal, pseudonymous Twitter account. Allegedly, the art institute investigated Mikkelsen for sexual harassment in response to the complaint of another student, who found the account and told administrators about the images. Though Mikkelsen did not tag anyone from the university community in their Twitter posts or send messages related to the account to anyone , KCAI expelled Mikkelsen for their artistic expression — and banned them from ever re-enrolling.

“I’m relieved that the school has recognized its mistake and rectified its actions,” Mikkelsen said. “Knowing that standing up for free expression will now allow other students to consume fictitious content without fearing punishment is icing on the cake.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

VICTORY: Art institute reverses expulsion for student who retweeted sexual art

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 14, 2022 - A student expelled from Kansas City Art Institute for retweeting sexual art won their appeal Tuesday, notching a victory for free expression. KCAI reversed the expulsion decision against student Ash Mikkelsen after a demand from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

Kansas City Art Institute Reverses Expulsion for Retweeting Sexually Explicit Cartoons

From the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression today: A student expelled from Kansas City Art Institute for retweeting sexual art won their appeal Tuesday .... KCAI reversed the expulsion decision against student Ash Mikkelsen after a demand from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.