Harris, a sophomore at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, was expelled, according to The Associated Press, by the private religious institution for posting derogatory remarks about a female student — believed to be an ex-girlfriend — on his Facebook profile.

Harris repeatedly said he did not post the message, as he had given his password to a friend. He did not publicly apologize — now he’ll sit at home for the time being.

Expelling Harris seems like an overreaction, especially since the comments in question were made on his own Facebook page, but Harris violated the college’s code of conduct regarding information technology. Being that Calvin College is a private and religious school, it could be expected that rules pertaining to student behavior are more strict. The school policy states “communication that degrades or harasses individuals or groups” is intolerable, citing a passage from Ephesians 4:29 to make its point.

Acceptable-use policies are hardly ever explicit or ingrained in students’ minds; very few students could probably recite MSU’s policies on such subjects. Regardless, good judgment is uniform at any place of business, in any setting. The punishment probably would have not been as severe had Harris apologized for the messages. The problem is, although Harris is adamant he didn’t make the comments, it is irresponsible to make any password public knowledge.

Harris’ situation is just another example that virtually nothing is private in the age of the Internet. Employers, school officials and parents have swarmed Facebook and other social networking Web sites to learn things people won’t tell them. Students need to update their privacy settings so the wrong people don’t see things they shouldn’t. Or students could refrain from having inappropriate information on a public profile altogether.

Calvin College is being quiet about the Harris issue, so it is difficult to speculate what occurred before the school issued its punishment. If it was made clear to Harris that he would be expelled for not apologizing, he may be at fault. To value pride over education seems reckless.

If the college did not express the severity of Harris’ infractions, however, the punishment is far too extravagant. In no way should Harris have concocted any defense for what appeared on his Facebook profile, but he should be given fair warning about the implications such actions carry. The school’s code of conduct should make strict mention of a standard punishment for violation of its information technology policy.

Ultimately, though, the message Calvin College is sending is hammered into people’s heads — be wary of what you put on the Internet.

And don’t give out your password.