Once again, FIRE steps in to help students fight for free speech on campus.

From the FIRE blog.

Students Sue Dixie State U. Over ‘Free Speech Zone,’ Censorship of Bush, Obama, Che Flyers

Students filed a First Amendment lawsuit today against Utah’s Dixie State University, with assistance from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). The lawsuit challenges numerous unconstitutional restrictions that Dixie State, a repeat offender against freedom of speech, has placed on the First Amendment rights of Dixie State students.

The lawsuit alleges that Dixie State refused to approve promotional flyers produced by the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) student group that featured images negatively portraying Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. Dixie State administrators told student plaintiff William Jergins that the flyers would not be approved until he removed references to the political figures because school policy does not permit students to “disparage” or “mock[] individuals.”

Dixie State’s posting policy states that all flyers must be “in good taste” and, inexplicably, must follow Federal Communications Commission guidelines.

“Dixie State is a public university bound by the First Amendment, and the First Amendment is quite clear that you have the unequivocal right to criticize or mock political figures,” said FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff. “One has to wonder how Dixie State students can engage in serious political discussions—or any discussion at all—when they are forced to follow the university’s ridiculous policies, which go so far as to forbid any poster in a residence hall that students or administrators can claim creates an ‘uncomfortable’ environment.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Dixie State’s Director of Student Involvement and Leadership unilaterally decided that YAL’s request to stage a “free speech wall” event could be accommodated only in the school’s “free speech zone,” rather than in the requested central area of campus.