University of Alabama: Disparate Treatment of Conservative Organizations

Case Materials

• "University of Alabama Continues Campaign Against Free Speech," FIRE Press Release, June 16, 2004: Last year, the University of Alabama (UA) gained notoriety when it banned students from displaying the American flag (and all other flags) in their dorm windows. Now it has ordered the Alabama Scholars Association, a faculty group critical of the university's grading policies, to pay a rate eight times higher than that paid by other faculty organizations for use of the university’s mail system. FIRE and the National Association of Scholars are protesting UA's actions, which are only the latest in a long, sad string of assaults on free speech and expression on that campus.

Media Coverage

• "University administration concerned about UA professors' usage of mailing system," Marlin Caddell, The Crimson White, June 9, 2004
• "UA criticized over campus mail," The Birmingham News, May 31, 2004