Oklahoma university faces lawsuit for denying students freedom of speech
A lawsuit against Oklahoma State University has recently been filed by Speech First for punishing students for expressing their political opinions on campus.
The complaint, filed on Jan. 10, targets four university policies that it cites as evidence of free speech infringement.
A lawsuit against Oklahoma State University (OSU) has recently been filed by Speech First, an organization promoting freedom of speech and expression on campus, for punishing students for expressing their political opinions on campus.
The complaint, filed on Jan. 10, targets four university policies that it cites as evidence of free speech infringement: The use of speech codes and bias-response teams (groups that encourage students’ monitoring of each other), OSU’s Harassment Policy, their Computer Policy, and their Bias-Incidents Policy.
Under the “Harassment Policy” heading, the lawsuit points to one section of OSU’s updated Student Code of Conduct called “Prohibited Conduct.”
“The Code of Conduct defines ‘Prohibited Conduct’ as behavior that ‘detract[s] from the effectiveness of a university community’,” the complaint states.
In reference to the Harassment Policy, it claims that “[a]ccording to the University, harassment can occur anywhere, at any time, by any medium” and that (quoting the text of the policy) “it applies to conduct which occurs on university premises, at Oklahoma State University-sponsored events both on and off campus.”
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In a recent Fox News interview, Cherise Trump, Executive Director of Speech First, argued that the free speech issues at OSU exemplify broader trends across the country, where “[u]niversity officials have created a series of rules and regulations on campuses that restrain, deter, suppress and punish speech based on anything that’s political or social.”
Campus Reform reached out to every university, organization, and individual mentioned. This article will be updated accordingly.
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