FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stacy Hughes, Director, External Affairs, 801.750.1745, stacy.hughes@neumont.

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Neumont University Obtains a Victory Against a Cyberstalker in Federal Court

Salt Lake City, February 21, 2013 When Neumont University officials discovered a web site that appeared to offer students an opportunity to post raw, anonymous, reviews, they chose to ignore the exaggerated comments made by a few disgruntled former students who had not met the Universitys rigorous academic standards. But, when the site began deleting reviews from successful students and graduates, and directly slandering the faculty of the University, Neumont decided to set the record straight resulting in a dispute over the proper usage of online forums that has just won Neumont its first victory in federal court. In early 2009, Jesse Nickles, a disgruntled former UC Irvine student blogger and a would-be search engine optimizer who has no known assets and appears to live with his parents, created the website collegetimes.us. The site claimed that visitors could use the forum as a tool to post raw and unedited reviews of any university But, within months, the purpose of the site became clear: Nickles was using Collegetimes for personal gain under the auspices of free speech. Nickles dressed Collegetimes to appear legitimate and lure visitors into viewing malicious, negative, defamatory pseudo reviews designed to misrepresent his intended targets and force them to pay him to remove the defamatory lies and innuendo. Neumont University graduate Tyrel Hunter found the site and posted two reviews in 2009. When he discovered that Collegetimes was altering his posts, he emailed the site administrators stating, I have recently found that a post I made on your site has been removed from your site. This is very disappointing to me. I want to express my true feelings for the school and you have apparently removed my post please allow me to post my true feelings without the feedback getting deleted... When Mr. Hunter alerted Neumont University to his experience, the University attempted to contact Nickles to discuss Neumonts concerns. Rather than engaging in professional dialogue, Nickles chose to escalate his attacks forcing Neumont to file suit in federal court. Despite the attacks and unfounded erratic behavior, Neumonts response has been reasonable and considered. Neumont has remained firm in its request that Collegetimes: 1. 2. 3. 4. Remove the Neumont page from the Collegetimes website, or Reinstate deleted content on the Neumont reviews page, and Enable postings of truthful reviews, and Cease being party to the publication of slanderous lies regarding Neumont University.

Since Neumont filed suit, Nickles is believed to be the source of harassment of University Administration, calling staff members up to ten times per day on their personal cell phones, posting worrisome, grandiose delusionary statement that he is being stalked by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which he incorrectly asserts is affiliated with the University), and sending demands to the University President, Edward Levine, that he follow the example of other Universities and pay Nickles to discontinue his slanderous activities.

Neumont University Media Release February 21, 2013 NU Prevails in Court Action

Nickles has even stooped to altering and posting exploitative photos of the child of a Salt Lake Tribune reporter Nickles claims (erroneously) to be associated with the University. He has also sent threats of violence, quoting corrupted biblical passages and threatening an impending Neumont apocalypse a message the University took with particular concern as its timing immediately followed the tragic massacre in Newton, Connecticut. When asked why Neumont chose to file a lawsuit to protect its reputation rather than give into Nickles outrageous demands, University President Levine stated: I wont allow anyone to disparage Neumont graduates, students, or faculty through anonymous, unattributed fabrications and lies. What we are accomplishing at Neumont University is remarkable and effective. Neumont attempted to resolve the matter amicably for many months before pursuing legal action. Nickles refuses to engage in civilized discourse; we will not pay to meet the irrational demands of a cyber-stalker. In an effort to resolve the matter without further consuming the time of the federal court system, the parties were ordered to appear before a federal magistrate at a settlement conference in February. After a barrage of threatening, harassing calls and emails to the University, defendant Jesse Nickles, and his company Little Bizzy, failed to appear. In a public court document titled Court Report and Recommendation filed shortly after the settlement conference, Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen stated: Little Bizzys [aka Jesse Nickles and Collegetimes] failure to comply with the courts orders has interfered with the courts ability to hear this case, unnecessarily multiplied these proceedings, delayed litigation, disrupted the courts timely management of its docket, wasted judicial resources, and threatened the integrity of the courts orders and the orderly administration of justice. The 1 Magistrate Judge recommended sanctions against Little Bizzy [aka Jesse Nickles and Collegetimes] . When asked about the court outcome President Levine stated, If Mr. Nickles position had any basis in fact he would appear to defend his actions and provide an opportunity to discuss and support his claims. But, it is my experience that cowards and bullies prefer anonymity. It is unfortunate that Mr. Nickles has chosen to waste the time of the court, but we are pleased with this first victory. We will continue to move forward in our endeavor to defend the good name of our University, and all that our students and faculty have accomplished. ABOUT NEUMONT UNIVERSITY
Neumont University has long been praised by industry leaders like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, IBM, and even the Department 2 of Education for its innovative, paradigm-shifting approach to computer science education. Neumont has re-engineered the traditional four-year college degree into an intense, 2.5 to 3.0 year course-of-study. Students are enrolled year-round in a fulltime schedule that replicates the work environment. Neumont University offers bachelors programs with a focus on digital science. At Neumont, students are immersed in a rigorous, project-based curriculum from day one, and complete up to three quarters of Enterprise Projects - a sequence of mandatory team-based development projects with real deadlines for employers like IBM, 3 Nike, and Bosch. Over 96% of Neumont graduates are employed in field within six months of graduation . Neumont graduates are employed at wide variety of companies including Google, IBM, MSNBC, Microsoft, Nike, Bosch, Johnson & Johnson, and 4 TripAdvisor, and they accept offers with average first-year compensation of over $62,400 . More information is available at www.neumont.edu.

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Minutes of Proceedings, Case 2:12-cv-01395-GMN-PAL, Document 37, Filed 02/07/13

www.neumont.edu/news: 2006 Spellings Report: Commission on Higher Education, and 2010 Chronicle of Higher Education Career Colleges Deserve a Say. 3 www.neumont.edu/results: Employment statistic is calculated using verified data for the 95% of 2009-2011 B.S. in Computer Science graduates who opted into Neumonts Career Services Program. Neumont University verifies employment by employers in writing. Neumont University does not guarantee employment for future graduates. 4 www.neumont.edu/results: Salary statistic is calculated using verified data for the 93% of 2011 B.S. in Computer Science graduates with verified first-year compensation. Neumont University verifies first-year compensation by employers in writing. Neumont University does not guarantee first-year compensation for future graduates. Neumont University Media Release February 21, 2013 NU Victorious in Court Action 2