Table of Contents
Two Universities. Two Posters. One First Amendment Problem.
The poster depicting the shooting of Alex Pretti (left) was posted at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the other reading "Dead ICE agents can't kill" was found at Penn State.
Public universities don’t get to pick which political viewpoints are safe to express. But administrators at two major universities are trying to do just that.
At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, administrators treated the College Republicans’ pro-ICE political message like a civil rights violation. After the Illini Republicans — a registered student organization — posted an Instagram graphic supporting immigration enforcement on Jan. 28, UIUC announced the Title VI Office would conduct a review.
Political Speech is Free Speech
Campus Rights
Tell University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to end its sham investigation. No public institution can impose disciplinary sanctions for protected political expression.
At Penn State, an anti-ICE poster discovered outside the student center on Jan. 29 sparked heated reactions across the ideological spectrum. When some people raised the call to identify and punish whoever created the poster, Penn State responded by condemning it and announcing that University Police and Public Safety were investigating.
These incidents are two sides of the same coin: administrators using official investigations to police protected political speech, in this case, on opposing sides of the immigration debate.
Launching or announcing an investigation sends a clear warning to students: express the wrong opinion and you could be punished. That chills speech campus-wide and violates the First Amendment obligations public universities are required to uphold.
You don’t need to sympathize with either political stance taken — pro-ICE or anti-ICE — to defend the principles at stake. Political advocacy is at the core of the First Amendment, especially at a public university. America’s most pressing issues should be debated, not investigated into silence.
Protest Posters are Free Speech
Campus Rights
Tell Penn State to drop their sham investigation and confirm it will uphold its commitment to protecting free expression.
Disliking these posts while still opposing their censorship would actually be strategic: If you hold radical anti-policing views, for example, and want to be able to chant “All Cops Are Bastards,” then you should want a campus where administrators don’t “review” controversial politics through disciplinary channels.
It may actually benefit your side to let your opponents be heard loudly, particularly if their views are controversial or unpopular. As the gay rights activist Jonathan Rauch said of one gay rights opponent, “The more he talks, and the more we talk, the better we sound.”
Join us in telling UIUC and Penn State to drop their sham investigations and reaffirm their commitments to upholding free expression — even when it's controversial or unpopular. Free speech makes free people — no matter what side you’re on.
Tell Penn State to drop its investigation of an anti-ICE poster
Recent Articles
Get the latest free speech news and analysis from FIRE.
German chancellor echoes the frequent — and illiberal — call to end online anonymity
Ruling on Palestine Action ban casts even more doubt on UK’s troubling mass arrests of peaceful protesters
He refused to censor his syllabus — so Texas Tech cancelled his class
