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UNC Greensboro Drops All Charges Against Free Speech Protestors

果冻传媒app官方

GREENSBORO, N.C., January 17, 2006鈥擝owing to public pressure, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) has dropped charges against two students who led a peaceful protest against the university鈥檚 policy of quarantining free speech to small areas of campus. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (果冻传媒app官方) brought UNCG鈥檚 repression to light in December.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about time that UNCG realized the error of its ways,鈥 declared Greg Lukianoff, 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 interim president. 鈥淧unishing students for having the courage to protest the university鈥檚 unconstitutional rules would have been an exercise in tyranny.鈥

This resounding victory for free speech came just days after FIREand the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy released a report documenting dozens of policies from across the University of North Carolina System鈥攊ncluding UNCG鈥攖hat violate the U.S. Constitution. UNCG had been on the defensive since FIRE revealed in December that students Allison Jaynes and Robert Sinnott were to be punished for violating the school鈥檚 鈥渇ree speech zone鈥 policy by protesting outside the school鈥檚 two small free speech zones.

鈥淲hen a university establishes a 鈥榝ree speech zone,鈥 it turns the rest of its campus into a censorship zone,鈥 remarked Lukianoff. 鈥淣othing could be further from the 鈥榤arketplace of ideas鈥 that a university is supposed to represent.鈥

Jaynes and Sinnott led a November 16, 2005, protest against the school鈥檚 free speech zone policy on a grassy area outside the library. During the protest, an administrator ordered them to move to a free speech zone. Jaynes and Sinnott refused, citing the First Amendment. Administrators and police did nothing further to stop the peaceful protest, but a few days later Jaynes and Sinnott were charged with a 鈥渧iolation of Respect鈥 for refusing an order to stop their protest.

The students contacted 果冻传媒app官方, which wrote to UNCG Chancellor Patricia Sullivan and then to UNC System General Counsel Leslie Winner, explaining that UNCG鈥檚 blanket restrictions on free speech outside of the 鈥渇ree speech zones鈥 are contrary to the First Amendment. FIREalso reminded UNCG that it has defeated similar policies at Texas Tech University, West Virginia University, and Citrus College in California.

Late last Friday, Jaynes and Sinnott received notice from the university that the charges against them had been completely dropped.  FIREhas also learned that UNCG鈥檚 chancellor has established a committee to reexamine the university鈥檚 鈥渇ree speech zone鈥 policy.

鈥淲e are gratified that UNCG dismissed its charges against the students, but UNCG still has a lot of work to do before it is in line with the Constitution,鈥 commented Lukianoff. 鈥淯ntil the university finally eliminates its speech restrictions, 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 job will not be done.鈥

FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation鈥檚 colleges and universities. 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 efforts to preserve liberty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro can be viewed at thefire.org/uncg.

CONTACT:
Greg Lukianoff, Interim President, 果冻传媒app官方: 215-717-3473; greg_lukianoff@thefire.org
Patricia Sullivan, Chancellor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro: 336-334-5266; chancellor@uncg.edu

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