ASU Backs Down After Trying To Force a Student To Remove 'Trump' Sign

P. Gardner Goldsmith | April 17, 2017
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Universities are supposed to be places of higher learning, where people can exchange ideas and opinions and seek truth.

But University of South Alabama student David Meredith is learning a different lesson about college. After the election of 2016, he received an e-mail from the USA Community Director Dylan Lloyd that he was prohibited from displaying a “Trump-Pence” sign in his dormitory window. It’s official policy, noted Lloyd, that students cannot post “political signs” on school property.

As Robby Soave notes for Reason:

In response, Meredith sent an email containing just two words: ‘1st amendment.’ Indeed, that was more than Meredith even needed to say, since Lloyd should have been well aware that he could not actually infringe on a student's right to post a sign acknowledging that Donald Trump is the president.

But the school would not back down until the non-profit Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) stepped in to help Meredith. The school argued that even though Trump was already president, the sign could be seen as advocating for his reelection, so it had to go. Colleges, the director said, could not be seen to advocate for a candidate one way or another.

But FIRE explained that there is a long tradition of students expressing their political opinions on college campuses, and people generally know that the students are not speaking for the schools. It was silly to restrict the speech of Mr. Meredith on such flimsy grounds.

So, the university has backed down. Case closed...until another one like it pops up.

The government sphere is often portrayed as the place where “we come together” and “our” ideals are reflected. But, more often than not, people end up fighting over what is permitted on govenment property, and what can be said. Some claim the right to free speech, while others might claim their tax money is being used to support an idea they don't like. 

The situation at the University of South Alabama is typical of every government program. It just catches the eye a bit more because in this case, the issue was manifestly about someone’s right to express his views, even on a single sign.

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