This summer two large public universities settled lawsuits relating to speech codes on college campuses by backing away from provisions of their policies that restrict expression of certain viewpoints that were directed at other students.
At Georgia Tech, students Orit Sklar and Ruth Malhotra accused the school of restricting their ability to voice their opposition to homosexuality. A lawsuit was subsequently brought against the university by the students and the Alliance Defense Fund, a public interest group of attorneys focused on preserving freedom of religious expression.
The case was settled Aug. 8, when Georgia Tech consented to remove portions of a school policy which forbids verbal assaults on students due to race, ethnic or sexual identity. The students and their attorney considered the outcome a victory for free speech.
Georgia Tech Spokesman Jim Fetig, however, considered the settlement more of a clarification than a change in school policy.
"Georgia Tech considers this agreement to be a cosmetic clarification of our department of housing community guidelines," Fetig said. "It affirms housing policy to encourage free speech within acceptable norms of behavior within our dorms."
Fetig noted that "in return for the clarification," the plaintiffs forfeited claims to temporary or permanent injunction against the housing code, as well as claims for attorney's fees.
At Penn State, ADF attorneys filed a suit on behalf of student Alfred Joseph Fluehr, who voiced concern that he was not allowed to publicly show contempt for certain political beliefs. The legal action resulted in Penn State officials agreeing to revoke any sort of school speech code or restrictions on public expression.
David Hacker, Litigation Counsel for the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, expressed satisfaction at the outcome of both lawsuits.
"These are huge victories for free speech at both universities, and we're very happy that PSU was able to come to an agreement, and that the judge in Georgia revised the prior speech code to allow for more speech on campus," Hacker said.
The University of Virginia has no such restrictions on speech, Dean of Students Penny Rue said. In fact, Rue said, if any code is in effect, it is one protecting the rights of students to express themselves, rather than infringing on them.
"The 'speech code' is the First Amendment," Rue said. "If any group wants to stage a protest, we would certainly work with the group to be able to protest, but also ensure that the speaker is not disrupted."
Last fall several students on Grounds reported that they had been victims of racially motivated crimes involving the use of racial epithets. The University responded by implementing the Just Report It bias incident reporting system.
"There is an issue when speech becomes behavior, and where speech would become a violation of the Standard of Conduct," Rue said.
Such incidents would go beyond a matter of free speech, and would not be treated as such an issue, she said.
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