Conservative student activists at Michigan’s Grand Valley State University have filed a lawsuit claiming they were targeted for unfair enforcement of the publicly-funded university’s free speech regulations. The students are affiliated the conservative group Turning Point USA.

In a press release from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), four students say campus security and administrators threatened them with arrest on October 17 for discussing free speech rights outside of two small free speech zones that make up less than one percent of campus. They were asking other students to sign a “free speech ball” when they were confronted.

A month later, one of the students said he saw others protesting President-elect Donald Trump outside of the free speech zones. Those students were allowed free reign for their expression of opinion.

“Public universities, which are supposed to be the ultimate marketplace of ideas, shouldn’t be stifling students on more than 99.97 percent of campus. The Turning Point USA students have a constitutionally protected freedom to peacefully share their viewpoints with other students. … The university can’t play ‘keep away’ with the First Amendment.”

Campus Spokesperson: We “Embrace the First Amendment”

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, seeks to overturn the campus’ Speech Zone Policy. University spokesperson Mary Eileen Lyon told The Stream, “Grand Valley State University embraces the First Amendment and encourages, supports and defends free speech. The university has not been served with this lawsuit and it is our practice not to comment on pending litigation.”

Lyon and university police declined to discuss the students’ claims about the two alleged incidents, as well as whether the university applies its free speech regulations in a consistent fashion. The campus’ official speech policies state in part:

Lawful, non-disruptive public demonstrations are permitted at Grand Valley and are protected by the First Amendment, without regard for the point of view being expressed. Under the First Amendment, we cannot restrict these demonstrations based upon content.

The university’s policies also declared that “Persons have the right to lawful assembly and to express their concerns in ways which do not involve substantial disorder or do not materially and substantially interfere with the rights of others, or with the normal functions of the University.” The policy doesn’t restrict students’ right to free speech to free speech zones.

Grand Valley State has received a middle ranking from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a group that rates the free speech policies of colleges and universities. FIRE noted that the university’s policies support the right to assemble to express beliefs, but also that Grand Valley State has “at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application.” One such policy was a bias reporting mechanism that FIRE determined was too vague to be applied in a manner consistent with free speech. 

ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer condemned Grand Valley State’s treatment of the conservative students. “Public universities, which are supposed to be the ultimate marketplace of ideas, shouldn’t be stifling students on more than 99.97 percent of campus. The Turning Point USA students have a constitutionally protected freedom to peacefully share their viewpoints with other students, and those students have the freedom to share their viewpoints as well, whether verbally or in writing on a beach ball. The university can’t play ‘keep away’ with the First Amendment.”