picture from Justice for All         restricted “free speech zones” which limit controversial displays to certain areas – often a very small fraction of the campus – and require permission to use them. One student, Chike Uzuegbunam, even when he abided by these restrictions, was still told to stop sharing his faith after someone complained.  Are colleges so afraid of violent disturbances arising from disagreements that they are willing to shut down free speech? Are they unable or unwilling to draw the line between expression of ideas and demeaning verbal attacks or “hate speech”?  An opinion that abortion is wrong is not the same as verbally attacking anyone who has had an abortion.  Alliance Defending Freedom has over 400 victories against public universities across the country. But far too often, once students try to hold university officials accountable, they change the policies and ignore how they mistreated students. Thankfully, the Supreme Court put a stop to this.

       On March 8, 2021, Supreme Court decision on Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski declared that not only did the college not have the right to restrict free speech to a particular area of campus, but that even after they changed their policy to allow free speech in any outdoor area of campus, the college should be held accountable for its actions. To preserve free speech for us all, we must protect free speech on college campuses so that students learn to respectfully interact with diverse viewpoints. (3)

1. https://idhe.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/IDHEFreeSpeechInclusionGuide.pdf
2. https://christianvoicesforlife.org/documents/2017/7/Colleges-Suppress-Expression-of-Pro-Life-Views.pdf
3. https://adflegal.org/blog/victory-supreme-court-rules-college-student-silenced-sharing-gospel