Lawsuits against two Pennsylvania schools have brought to light the issue of restrictive free speech policies at the state's colleges and universities.
Students at both Temple and Penn State universities sued their respective schools last week alleging that the schools obstructed their First Amendment right to free speech.
David French -- an attorney at the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal organization that works on behalf of religious freedom -- represents both plaintiffs.
The suit against Penn State was filed on behalf of undergraduate student Alfred Fluehr.
It opposes what French termed an "Orwellian speech code policy that is vague, over-broad and suppresses the discussion of controversial viewpoints" that is part of the student policy handbook.
Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said the policy isn't a threat to student freedom and that the school has no plans to change it.
"The university fully supports the right to free speech on campus and has never taken any action to abridge or circumvent that right," Kendig said.
The complaint cites, in part, Penn State's Report Hate Web site, where students can report acts that they perceive as hateful or intolerant. French says this Web site encourages students to inform upon their classmates.
"It's disturbing that universities have begun to view speech as a problem rather than as an asset," he said.
Thomas Poole, associate vice provost for educational equity at Penn State, said that the university created the Web site a few years ago at students' request.
In the complaint filed against Temple, graduate student Christian DeJohn alleges that professors Gregory Urwin and Richard Immerman led "a campaign of retribution and retaliation" that was intended to prevent his graduation.
After DeJohn, a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, expressed displeasure at anti-war e-mails that he received from Immerman while stationed overseas, both professors thwarted DeJohn's attempts to complete his master's thesis, French says.
Although DeJohn's thesis on military history was initially approved by his adviser, Urwin, who also read it, used "the most vilely unprofessional and personally insulting terms" in his critique, French said.
Ray Betzner, a spokesman for Temple, said that the university is confident that "the complaint brought by the Alliance Defense Fund will be shown to be without merit."
DeJohn eventually received a failing grade on the thesis, and he has yet to graduate.
"He wants to ... get on with the rest of his life, but Temple has stood in the way," French said.
Urwin denies that he treated DeJohn with unusual harshness.
"Do I discriminate against the military personnel and veterans in my charge? You bet I do ... [but] I subject my 'civilian' students to the same brand of discrimination," Urwin said.
Immerman had no comment.
Penn General Counsel Wendy White, said that the University doesn't have speech codes.
"We are committed to free speech and open expression on campus as a core institutional value," White said.
