I've got a better idea. Transfer. Nobody should tolerate this level of self-aggrandizement (in the form of "punishment" from anybody, even if they broke some rules.
The student made the administration of the school look bad/made them uncomfortable and they're making him pay the price. You don't have to play their games. Just leave.
He can't. The veiled mentions of "holds" on his records prevent him from transferring, because the University will not release a transcript until he submits to their punishment. No transcript, no transfer.
If I were him I wouldn't bother with transferring my transcript. College education isn't worth a flip if you already know how to code and can demonstrate it by making a decent app like he did.
I dropped out of college because I made my own app and started getting two job offers a month from decent startups looking for developers. I'm sure this kid will be getting job offers from the press coverage of this.
If I were him I wouldn't waste time with school, especially from such a dated and ignorant institution when he could be getting better real life experience.
Long story short I'd hire him, and if I were him I'd leave that school without a single backward glance.
Given how poorly courses transfer between universities, he wouldn't need to be very far into his degree for the switching cost to be more far more ridiculous than the cost of his punishment.
Sure, and that's (very sad to say) where it ends. There's not much a student can do to a University administrator. They hold all the cards. Want an education? You gotta go through them. Have a grievance while in your program? You're already invested with time and money. Unsatisfied with your courses? They've already taken your money. In my opinion, the problems with higher education almost all trace back to the rotten-ness of the administrative section of higher education as a whole. Power corrupts, indeed.
The student made the administration of the school look bad/made them uncomfortable and they're making him pay the price. You don't have to play their games. Just leave.