Columbia University Student Files Complaint with Department of Education, Alleging Anti-Semitism

Invoking President Donald Trump’s recent executive order targeting anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses, the complaint accuses the Columbia administration of failing to address discrimination against Jewish students on its campus.

Police Arrest Two Students at the University of Connecticut for Using a Racial Slur

While the boys’ language was undoubtedly offensive, civil liberties groups say the statute used to arrest them is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. 

Students at Georgia Southern University Burn Book By Latina Author

After disagreeing with the way Jennine Capó Crucet’s novel, “Make Your Home Among Strangers,” presented white privilege, a group of students at Georgia Southern University decided to burn her book. The incident serves as an interesting example of a form of expression that is at once protected speech—symbolic speech—and a symbol of censorship.

Liberty University’s President Defends Right to Censor Student Newspaper

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. defended his right to censor the university’s student newspaper, arguing that the practice does […]

Bakery Awarded $44 Million in Total Damages in Defamation Suit Against Oberlin College

A jury in Ohio awarded $33 million in punitive damages to a local bakery that had sued Oberlin College for libel and slander. The complaint filed in Ohio state court in November 2017, alleged that Oberlin was complicit in supporting and encouraging student protests against Gibson’s bakery following the arrests of three African American students. Oberlin students began protesting the store, passing out fliers calling the bakery “a racist establishment with a long account of racial profiling and discrimination.”

Nonprofit Sues University of Illinois Over “Unconstitutional” Student Policies

Speech First, a conservative legal organization, sued the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign over its free speech policies. The group objects to the University’s position on political pamphlets, its bias reporting system, and its no-contact policy for students accused of bias. “On a regular basis, the University of Illinois sends a clear message to students who wish to engage in political and religious speech: there are some views that are welcome, and others that are not," Speech First President Nicole Neily said in a statement. "Students deserve to be able to express themselves and voice their opinions without fear of investigation or punishment – which is why these policies must be reformed.”

Book Talk Interrupted by White Nationalist Group At Popular D.C. Bookstore

A group of white nationalists disrupted an author’s book talk at a Washington, D.C. bookstore, chanting “this land is our […]

Gene Policinski Commentary: Student Journalism: More Needed Than Ever

The Newseum Institute’s First Amendment expert, Gene Policinski, originally published this commentary on January 31, 2019, on the Newseum blog, […]