ࡱ> GIF` <bjbjss h,<$$&%%%%%%%$'hn)z%www%%'"'"'"w%'"w%'"'"'" 09G7?.'"%%0&'")' )'"'"z)$'"<%%" &wwwwdffd ff  January 24, 2007 President John C. Hitt University of Central Florida Office of the President Millican Hall Orlando, Florida 32816 Sent via U.S. Mail and Facsimile (407-823-2264) Dear President Hitt: FIREis disappointed to write to the University of Central Florida (UCF) once again to express our concern about the state of liberty on your campus. As you know, FIREwrote to you on November 1, 2006 to protest UCFs unconstitutional free speech zone policy that was twice used to shut down protests by FIREfor a Democratic Society (SDS). We write today because UCF has not yet begun to revise its speech zone policy and because we have learned of the existence of another policy quarantining free speech to an area even smaller than that designated by the Golden Rule. SDS members Patrick DeCarlo and Eric Eingold report to FIREthat on January 10, they held a Free Store in the brick mall area between the John T. Washington Center and the Student Unionan area well within the Golden Rules designated Free Assembly Area. SDS regularly holds the Free Store to protest what they see as the consumerism of Union Market Day, an event occurring every Wednesday in front of the Student Union in which vendors set up tables to sell goods to students. DeCarlo and Eingold report that on January 10, campus police disbanded the SDS event and cited not the Golden Rules Free Assembly Areas policy, but the Student Unions Free Assembly Areas policy. In contradiction to the Golden Rule policy (Section 16.F.1.b), which describes the free speech zone near the Student Union as the brick mall area between the John T. Washington Center and the Student Union, the Student Unions Free Assembly Areas policy states that: The free speech area nearest to the Student Union is situated as follows: the Brick Mall area between the John T. Washington Center and the Student Union as bounded on the West side by the Student Union loading dock and East by the colored sidewalk crossing the Brick Mall near the entrance to the Union. The maintenance and enforcement of inconsistent rules governing free assembly on campus make UCFs policies not only unconstitutionalas ֭Ғs previous letter detailedbut vague, contradictory, and confusing. Not only are UCF students banned from assembling and engaging in speech anywhere on the UCF campus, but they are apparently left to question which areas within the free speech zones are open to them. The double policies governing free speech on campus highlight the absurdity of UCFs practice of restricting free speech only to certain designated areas of campus. How many more obscure policies exist that limit student assembly? If university administrators, campus police, and university policymakers cannot agree on which areas of campus are open to student expression, then how can students be expected to follow the universitys rules? ֭Ғs November 1 letter detailed relevant case law declaring restrictive free speech zones unconstitutional on public campuses. In Roberts v. Haragan, 346 F. Supp. 2d 853 (N.D. Tex. 2004), for example, a federal court held that to the extent [that a] campus has park areas, sidewalks, streets, or other similar common areas, these areas are public forums, at least for the Universitys students, irrespective of whether the University has so designated them or not. FIREhas successfully challenged free speech zones at universities across the nation, including at West Virginia University, Seminole Community College, Citrus College, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of Nevada at Reno, and Texas Tech University. In all of these cases, the institutions challenged have either decided to open up the public areas of their campuses to expressive activities or have been forced by a court to do so. FIREsincerely hopes the University of Central Florida will consider the legal precedent along with the moral ramifications of infringing upon the fundamental rights of UCF students engaged in a peaceful protest. FIREwill continue to oppose UCFs unconstitutional and contradictory free speech zone policies until UCF opens its campus to the free speech and assembly of its students. We request a response on this matter by February 7, 2007. Sincerely,  Samantha Harris Director of Legal and Public Advocacy cc: Rick Walsh, Chair, Board of Trustees, University of Central Florida Tom Yochum, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, University of Central Florida Patrick T. Christiansen, Advancement Committee Chair, Board of Trustees, University of Central Florida Judy Albertson, Educational Programs Committee Chair, Board of Trustees, University of Central Florida Beth Barnes, Vice President and Chief of Staff, University of Central Florida Craig E. Ullom, Associate Vice President of Campus Life, University of Central Florida Patricia S. Mackown, Director, Office of Student Right and Responsibilities, University of Central Florida Kerry P. Welch, Director of the Office of Student Involvement, University of Central Florida Patricia J. Bishop, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies, University of Central Florida Doan T. 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