My free speech club table got shut down for handing out pamphlets

I was tabling at the student union at Ohio State last Tuesday, just handing out flyers about a debate on campus policing, and a dean came by and told us we needed a permit because the pamphlets were 'controversial material.' I argued that we had been there for two hours without any issue, but they confiscated our table anyway and cited a policy I had never heard of before. Has anyone else run into sudden permit rules that seem to target specific speech?

2 comments

2 Comments

eva_ward884d ago

The permit rule probably exists but they applied it selectively. Ohio State's policy says you need a permit if you're using amplified sound or blocking foot traffic, but 'controversial material' isn't in the actual policy language. I'd check the student organization handbook online - mine had a section about 'disruptive activities' that was really vague. They used it on me once for handing out flyers about a professor's salary, and when I pushed back they backed off. You might have better luck filing a complaint with the student affairs office than arguing with the dean.

iris_rivera444d ago

Didn't they realize how bad that looks, just shutting you down like that? I had something similar happen at my school when I tried to table about local housing issues. They told me my flyers were 'too political' even though the policy only mentioned needing permits for selling stuff or loud speakers. It sucks when they use vague rules to pick on certain topics you know they didn't like in the first place. You might want to grab a friend and go back with a copy of the actual handbook, it helps to have a witness when they start making stuff up.