Free Speech on Campus Gets a Shot in the Arm

The right to freedom of speech on America’s college campuses has been sorely tested in the last several years, as liberal forces have changed the emphasis of the college experience for so many.

Instead of stressing a myriad of achievements in higher learning, many liberals have pushed “social justice” goals on campus — as nonsensical as those goals might may be. But the tide may be turning now, as several impressive wins over the past week are energizing conservatives around the nation.

In addition to the Supreme Court’s monumental ruling in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra early last week, the First Amendment racked up another win — after the University of Massachusetts-Amherst nixed its restrictive campus speech policy.

The nixed ruling had said protests and rallies in which electronic amplification is used could occur only from noon to 1 p.m. on one side of the school’s student union — effectively creating a “free-speech zone.”

The school’s policy was deemed “unconstitutional,” giving a win to Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), which filed a lawsuit in January 2018 against the university. YAL at the University of Massachusetts, along with student Nicholas Consolini, were represented by the legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

ADF successfully defended florist Barronelle Stutzman and baker Jack Phillips recently in their respective high-profile First Amendment lawsuits before the high court.

The group advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith, and this includes conservative college students who need the right to speak freely on issues of importance to them.

A UMass spokeswoman said last week that the nearly 30-year-old rule was scrapped because it was rarely enforced — and could be misinterpreted as a limitation on free speech.

YAL and Consolini have since dropped their lawsuit against the university in light of the changes made by the board of trustees, according to a statement by ADF.

“The only permission slip students need to speak on campus is the First Amendment,” ADF’s legal counsel, Caleb Dalton, said in a statement. “We commend YAL and these brave students for taking a stand and causing UMass to remove this speech zone that never should have existed in the first place.”

Related: Guess Who’s Now Guaranteeing Free Speech on Campus? (It’s About Time)

“A public university is hardly the marketplace of ideas it’s supposed to be when less than 1 percent of campus is open for only one hour a day,” added Dalton.

“Today’s university students will be tomorrow’s voters and civic leaders,” said ADF’s senior counsel, Tyson Langhofer, who is also director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, in a statement. “That’s why it’s so vital that public colleges and universities exemplify the First Amendment values they are supposed to be teaching to students.”

Elizabeth Economou is a former CNBC staff writer and adjunct professor. Follow her on Twitter.