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֭’s Victory at Ohio U. Makes Headlines

On Monday, ֭’s tallied yet another victory for free speech on college campuses. Ohio University agreed to settle a First Amendment lawsuit filed by student Isaac Smith last July after administrators censored his student group’s T-shirts.

As Torch readers may recall, Smith’s organization, FIREDefending ֭, which helps students accused of disciplinary infractions navigate the system for free, wore T-shirts with the group’s longtime slogan, “We get you off for free,” to a campus involvement fair. There, a school official told the students to stop wearing their T-shirts, as they were “inappropriate.” This incident and the events that followed led Smith to sue, with ֭’s assistance.

As a condition of the settlement agreement, OU has revised problematic portions of its Student Code of Conduct to bring them in line with the First Amendment. As , yesterday’s win marks the fourth consecutive Stand Up For Speech victory.

Here’s the rest of the OU settlement coverage:

  • Associated Press, “”
  • The Chronicle of Higher Education, “,” Andy Thomason
  • The Athens Messenger, “”
  • The Athens News, “,” Conor Morris
  • The Columbus Dispatch, “,” Collin Binkley
  • Cleveland.com, “,” Karen Farkas
  • The Post, “,” Will Drabold
  • WOUB, “,” Alyssa Pasicznyk
  • The Washington Free Beacon, “,” Mary Lou Byrd
  • Red Alert Politics, “,” Morgan Chalfant
  • The Daily Caller, “,” Blake Neff
  • The College Fix, “,” Greg Piper

FIRE aims to change the incentive structure that currently encourages colleges to censor the speech of students and faculty members by imposing a real cost for violating the First Amendment. So far, the Stand Up For Speech project has cost the colleges and universities that have been sued more than $240,000—funds that will be used to enable other students to defend their rights in court.

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