American University recently launched new policies that restrict student protest and posting rights and tell student groups how they must choose their own members.
These new policies not only threaten student rights, but also AU’s self proclaimed “ethos of inquiry.” Through these overbroad and vague policies, AU has empowered administrators to make judgment calls that could infringe on students’ expressive rights. These policies must change.
AU already has policies in place prohibiting actionable misconduct like discriminatory harassment and true threats and therefore doesn’t need new policies that use sweeping generalizations and vague limitations to restrict student speech. As AU commits to “protecting free expression for all members of its community,” it must uphold this promise by rescinding the new policies.
Join FIRE and remind AU’s leadership that the expressive and associational rights of its students must remain protected.