The College Fix

Preacher says he left Georgia State U.’s outdoor free speech zone at student’s invitation while it was raining

Georgia State University has backtracked on free speech restrictions after a Christian activist says the institution forced him to leave a campus dining area where a student had invited him to talk on a rainy April day, his lawyers said.

John Manning, a spokesperson for First Liberty Institute, which is representing Stephen Atkerson, shared the news with The College Fix in an email Friday.

The institute reached agreement with the public university that allows Atkerson “to speak with students on campus about his Christian faith when invited by students to engage in conversation,” a news release states.

“We’re grateful that the University understands the protections of the First Amendment which allows for the free exchange of ideas, even when those ideas are based in faith,” Senior Counsel Nate Kellum said in a statement. “Stephen is thrilled to be able to continue his ministry to college students.”

In a December letter, the law firm had asked the university for an agreement in writing that Atkerson would “not be prohibited from approaching or talking to students about their faith.”

Atkerson regularly spends time on the public university’s Clarkston campus to have “friendly, one-on-one conversations” with students about Christianity, according to the letter. He said he does not “speak loudly” or use amplification.

Last April, Atkerson began a conversation with a student in an outdoor designated free speech zone; however, as it began to rain, they moved the conversation to a dining area under an awning, the letter states.

Shortly thereafter, a campus official and three armed police officers demanded that Atkerson end the conversation and go back to the free speech zone, the letter alleges. Even after Atkerson explained the student had invited him to continue their conversation outside the zone, he said the police and campus leader told him he had to go back to the limited free speech area.

The letter also alleged a campus official told Atkerson that he may not approach students, “even within the free speech area.”

The Fix contacted Georgia State University’s media relations office three times via email over the past two weeks, asking for its response to the letter, but did not receive a response. The university also did not immediately respond to a follow-up request Friday asking if it had any comments on the agreement reached with Atkerson and if it plans to re-examine its free speech policies.

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In First Legal’s Dec. 10 letter to Georgia State, the firm issued two demands on Atkerson’s behalf.

“Specifically, Atkerson demands written assurance from GSU that university officials will immediately refrain from 1) prohibiting consensual conversations on GSU campus in the dining area or elsewhere and 2) prohibiting speakers in the free speech [area] from approaching others,” the letter states.

“At a bare minimum, a free speech restriction occurring on public property must be reasonable,” the letter states. “… While this bar is not high, GSU plainly fails to clear it with its non-sensical prohibition on invited, consensual conversations on campus.”

First Legal also claimed the university’s restriction on approaching listeners within the designated free speech zone is unconstitutional.

“The Legal Scrutiny attached to the restriction taking place in the ‘free speech’ area is especially heightened, making the restriction there especially dubious,” according to the letter.

The university’s Freedom of Expression policy states speakers who are not members of the University Community may only engage in “speech activities” within designated areas from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday.

While the policy mentions several restrictions on the time, place and manner of campus speech, it does not specify any restrictions on approaching students or initiating conversations.

Campus free speech zones have been a source of legal controversy.

Laura Beltz, director of policy reform at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told The Fix the issue often depends on whether the person is directly connected to the university.

“Courts have generally upheld greater restrictions on the expressive activities of unaffiliated individuals than on those of students and other members of the university community, under the reasoning that the purpose of that forum is the education of students,” Beltz said in a recent email.

However, she clarified that “regulations on unaffiliated individuals still need to be viewpoint-neutral and reasonable.”

“So while a college could prohibit unaffiliated individuals from entering campus buildings due to security concerns, or limit unaffiliated individuals to fewer areas on campus than affiliated individuals, a regulation entirely preventing unaffiliated individuals from conducting expressive activities on a public campus likely would not be upheld,” Beltz said.

She told The Fix, “The challenge to Georgia State’s regulation may bring greater clarity to where these lines are drawn.”

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IMAGE: Georgia State University

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