Daily Athenaeum: Rutherford sues WVU over free speech policy
By Grant Smith, Staff Writer
A West Virginia University freedom of expression policy will remain under review until September. In the meantime, a Virginia-based civil liberties group has filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the policy.
The policy was revised and approved for recommendation to WVU President David Hardesty by the faculty senate on May 13. Hardesty and his legal counsel have reviewed it since that time.
“They have already looked at some suggestions for it,” said Carolyn Curry, vice president of institutional advancement. “This policy is evolving all the time.”
WVU’s regional campuses also need freedom of expression policies, Curry said.
An original draft of the policy was officially put in place on April 1, until a final draft has been totally approved.
“We’ve been working to try to get the University to reconsider its free speech policy for months and months now,” said Matthew Poe, Students for Economic Justice Free Speech Consortium member. “Zoning constitutional freedom is just not OK.”
The Rutherford Institute filed suit last Thursday on behalf of SEJ and the West Virginia Animal Rights Coalition.
Curry said the University has about 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.
A yet-again revised policy will be put out for comment in August and voted on by the WVU Board of Governors on Sept. 6. It will then require additional approval from West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Michael Mullen.
This article appeared in the Daily Athenaeum
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