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Meet Isaac Smith, a graduate of Ohio University (OU). When Isaac was a student at OU he helped to lead the group Students Defending Students (SDS), a (more)

Meet Isaac Smith, a graduate of Ohio University (OU).

When Isaac was a student at OU he helped to lead the group Students Defending Students (SDS), an organization that provides free assistance to students accused of campus misconduct. In order to interest other students, SDS made some eye-catching T-shirts emblazoned with the group’s original slogan from the 1970s: “We get you off for free.” But when the members of the group wore the shirts at a fall recruitment fair, the dean of students told them that they should not wear the shirts because they were not professional and contained sexual innuendo—which was, of course, the point. Another administrator later justified the informal ban on the T-shirts because the shirts “objectified women” and “promoted prostitution”—odd charges for a gender-neutral phrase about a free service. Fearing punishment under the the Student Code of Conduct, which prohibited any “act that degrades, demeans or disgraces” another student as well as “taking any reckless, but not accidental, action from which mental or bodily harm could result to another person,” SDS discontinued use of the T-shirts.

But Isaac, sensing that the administration’s behavior was “kinda bull,” reached out to FIRE. FIRE worked with Isaac and attorney Bob Corn-Revere to file a First Amendment lawsuit against OU as part of the July 1 2014 launch of our Stand Up For Speech Litigation Campaign.

In February 2015, OU settled the suit, agreeing to allow the T-shirts as well as revising the vague Student Code of Conduct policy on “mental or bodily harm” to comply with the First Amendment (not to mention paying out $32,000 for damages and legal fees).

Isaac’s advice to other students? “I would absolutely encourage students at other schools to take action if they feel that there is a problem with their speech code. If they feel that it’s unconstitutional … absolutely stand up and take action.”

Find out how you can challenge your speech codes at the 2015 FIRE Student Network Conference, July 24–26 in Philadelphia. Learn more about the conference here: https://www.thefire.org/studen...

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