The University of West Florida, a public university in Pensacola, Fla., recently updated its speech code policies to reflect a higher education bill that was signed by Gov. Rick Scott in March. This new law prohibits public colleges and universities in Florida from limiting student expression into small, misleadingly labeled “free speech zones.”
University of West Florida’s new policy shows a commitment to protecting students’ First Amendment rights on campus by removing free-speech zones and no longer requiring students to register their events with the university before they occur.
The updated policy also states the university may issue some restrictions on time, place, and manner of events, but “enforcement will be content neutral.”
“This is a victory for liberty and the Constitution,” Blade Handler, Young Americans for Liberty chapter president at University of West Florida, told Red Alert Politics. “Victories like this will provide the momentum to help make liberty win everywhere.”
As a result of the policy change, the Foundation of Individual Rights in Education has updated the campus’ free speech rating. They now hold a green-light rating, instead of a yellow-light rating.
Laura Beltz, senior program officer of policy reform at the FIRE, shared with Red Alert that she is pleased to see another free-speech zone eliminated.
“Kudos to Florida for requiring all public universities to uphold the First Amendment on campus,” Alexander Staudt , YAL’s director of free speech, told Red Alert. “Now students don’t have to worry about the bureaucrats on campus impeding on their right to freely express themselves.”
[Related: Florida law bans free speech zones, but will it be enforced?]
Through their national Fight for Free Speech campaign, YAL has worked with organizations like the FIRE and the Alliance Defending Freedom to combat oppressive speech code policies on college campuses across the nation. As a result of their efforts, YAL has helped revise 35 campus speech codes and restored First Amendment protected rights to 693,068 students.
