Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) has issued a formal warning to Valdosta State University over its use of a campus “free speech zone.”
A student at the university wanted to form a campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), so with the help of a YAL field representative, he set up a recruitment table in an open, outdoor area of campus. Soon after, a university official approached and ordered them to move to the campus “free speech zone”—a section of campus that is only ten feet wide, is obscured by bushes, and is only available for use certain times of the week.
In a legal demand letter to the university, SLF warned that Valdosta may be violating both state and federal law. SLF explained that the First Amendment requires campuses to be a “marketplace of ideas” open to public inquiry. And Georgia state law specifically says that members of the “campus community”—including students and their invited guests—are free to engage in expression in any open, outdoor area of campus without prior approval.
The student and his invited guest had a right to remain where they were, and by forcing them to move to a faraway location, Valdosta effectively silenced them.