On the one hand, university environements are supposed to open forums for discussion and sharing of information but, on the other hand, student information is supposed to be fully protected since in many, if not most, states undergraduate college students are considered minors - making protecting their privacy of utmost importance.
On the other side of the coin, state universities are subject to state and federal "freedom of information" laws which which require instutions to make available (upon demand) any information housed on any institutionally-own systems.
So, to protect their students private e-mails, they are turning to service providers such a Gmail but any data considered "private" needs to reside on university-owned systems to meet federal and state guidelines.
Lots of conflicts there.
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