College Harasses Students for Handing Out Constitutions, Gets Called Out, and Then Does This

On this blog, I’ve repeatedly chronicled the demise of higher learning in America… a demise that happens to correlate to the rise of political correctness and identity politics.  Can you imagine, for example, what our Founding Fathers would say about Skyline College administrators telling Eric Corgas, president of its Young Americans for Liberty chapter, to remove his “small folding table” from which he was handing out Constitutions? To add insult to injury, they told him that he also had to get a permit before he did even did that.  

Director of Student Development Amory Cariadus shamed the group for not telling her in enough advance they’d be publicly promoting the Constitution:

“We’re okay with you guys doing free speech, but, like, you guys gotta, like, let me know, not just send me an email at, like, 1:00” [she said]. Cariadus then instructed Corgas to complete a copy of Skyline’s “Free Speech Permit.” Cariadus told the students that “it probably, if [they] were, like, not disruptive, it wouldn’t be an issue” if they did not fill out the permit. However, she later said that the school receives complaints about free speech all the time.

According to the College Fix, “Since then, the YAL president has notified Cariadus of his campus activism ahead of time, but he has refused her demand to fill out a “free speech permit.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education thankfully sent a letter of warning to the institution, explaining that their demands “explicitly violates the district’s policy, which says its campuses cannot stop expressive activity ‘solely because’ the expressive group doesn’t get permission. Skyline is also violating district policy by designating its campus a ‘non-public forum’ except for its free-speech zones, FIRE attorney Brynne Madway told Skyline President Regina Stanback Stroud.”

Finally, the college relented and tossed its policies against free speech.

FIRE said Friday the community college acted quickly to change its policies after being warned, rescinding the permit requirement and publicly clarifying that “students can engage in expressive activity outside of the school’s free speech areas.

That’s a great way to start the year.

Hat Tip: College Fix

Image Credit: Mr.TinDC on Flickr