Can you hijack a creation of someone else, or even a government entity, for your own purposes? Does that entity have the right to invite others to use it under certain restrictions?
The campus was not created for the free speech of anyone, it was created as a place of learning.
I think that the pitfall that the college has is if they’ve treated all speech equally. Do they have pamphlets for, say, Planned Parenthood in the health office?
If they do, then how could they possibly object to the central document of our federal government being handed out on campus? And if they favor tracts published by a particular cause which can be so vehemently argued in the public square, how could they silence the distribution of such a foundational document that enumerates not only the inalienable rights of citizens, but the limitations on government as well?
I think the college has stable ground to put in ‘free speech zones’ and to regulate the usage of those zones through application and approval, but utterly loses this particular argument as the core action was handing out a basic document of our country, yet favors distribution throughout the campus of political dogma. Be it an animal rights sign in the campus farm center to controversial opinions in the health center or even a state mandated genderless bathroom sign.
“I think the college has stable ground to put in ‘free speech zones’ and to regulate the usage of those zones through application and approval”
Not if they take federal dollars, including student aid. Ask Hillsdale College about that. They had to give up federal student aid if they did not count and classify the race of their students.
With the current DOJ, they might be looking at losing student aid if they insist on illegal free speech zones.