Tuesday, March 02, 1999
Professor sues Miami U to keep thong swimsuit
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A Miami University music professor sued the school Monday, saying its ban on his thong-style swimsuit violated his First Amendment right to express himself.
G. Roger Davis' complaint asks U.S. District Judge Herman J. Weber to strike down the ban and award damages.
Defendants are Miami trustees, President James C. Garland and Steve Cady, assistant vice president for recreational facilities.
Joining Mr. Davis is the Naturist Action Committee Inc., of Oshkosh, Wis., a political action committee promoting “clothes-optional lifestyles, recreational and living sites.”
Mr. Davis, 49, is a professor of music and a body-builder who uses the Miami pool frequently. Since fall 1996, he has worn a thong.
The suit — a cloth covering Mr. Davis' genitals and thongs around his waist and through his crotch — complies with state law, said his attorney, Scott Greenwood.
However, in October 1997, Mr. Cady gave Mr. Davis what he said was a new dress code outlawing the thong, according to the complaint.
Mr. Cady also told him local churches objected to the mini mal swimsuit and the new policy would protect the “values and culture of middle-class Midwestern white” people, the complaint said.
Said Miami spokesman Richard Little: “I never heard any of that during any of the conversations.”
Said Mr. Davis: “What I've discovered is — right up to the very head of Miami University — is that there is no principle behind the diversity rhetoric.”
Mr. Greenwood said the so-called dress code was shown to no one else and it was not posted. He said Miami began to harass and intimidate Mr. Davis, to the point he feared for his job. In December, it canceled the professor's membership in the recreational center and its pool.
Choosing a legally adequate swimsuit is “core speech and expression presumptively pro tected by the First Amendment,” Mr. Greenwood said.
The ban limits the Naturists' freedom “to engage in expressive activity otherwise completely legal under the laws of the state of Ohio,” he said. The ban also violates the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection, he said.
Enquirer reporters Perry Brothers and Lisa Donovan contributed.
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