Long Island University punished a student organization for views the organization posted on its own Instagram account, apparently because the school believes it can dictate what its student organizations say on the internet.
On March 8, 2023, International Women’s Day, the “LIU Freedom Fighters,” a collective of students at LIU, made an Instagram post “to honor all transgender women and femmes.” In response, the American Club made its own Instagram posts, one of which used a photo of a woman with a confused look on her face, captioned, “when men pretending to be women celebrate International Women’s Day.”
The following week, LIU notified the American Club it was under investigation for the Instagram posts, claiming it violated the LIU Student Code of Conduct. LIU also informed the American Club it had been placed on interim suspension pending the investigation’s outcome.
LIU did not reach a decision on the investigation until July 6, when it found the American Club responsible for violating multiple school principles and policies involving speech. As a result, it imposed on the organization a deferred suspension extending through May 31, 2024, required it to send all of its executive officers and half of its members to LGBTQIA+ training, and ordered it to submit a diversity, equity, and inclusion action plan.
But LIU promises to support student free speech, committing to protecting students’ and student organizations’ First Amendment rights. LIU is also accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which requires its accredited institutions to possess and demonstrate a “commitment to … freedom of expression.”
Given LIU’s commitments to freedom of expression, it cannot punish the American Club for its Instagram posts containing only protected speech. Moreover, LIU’s decision to punish the club with an interim suspension before an initial hearing and the fact that LIU took nearly three months to investigate, violate basic principles of due process.
Join FIRE in urging LIU to lift the sanctions it imposed on the American Club, revise the policies it used to punish the organization for its speech, and commit to handling future investigations in accordance with fundamental principles of due process.