Seminole Community College: Refusal to Allow Student to Distribute Literature

Case Materials

• "Victory for Freedom of Speech at Seminole Community College," FIRE Press Release, June 16, 2005: In a quick yet important victory for freedom of speech, Florida’s Seminole Community College is allowing a student to distribute literature on slaughterhouse brutality on equal terms with other students and student groups. The college, which had initially insisted that the student distribute literature only within the college’s so-called “free speech zone,” reversed this decision only a few hours after FIRE took the case public yesterday. The college has also promised to review and recommend changes to its speech policies to ensure students’ constitutional rights are respected.
• "Letter from Seminole Community College Vice President James D. Henningsen to FIRE, June 15, 2005," June 15, 2005
• "Florida College Slaughters PETA Member’s Constitutional Rights," FIRE Press Release, June 15, 2005: Florida’s Seminole Community College has forbidden a student to distribute literature protesting slaughterhouse brutality at a table in the public area of the campus’ café. An administrator at the Oviedo campus refused to honor the student’s constitutional rights because the source of the literature (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) “instill[ed] a feeling” in her that she did not like.
• "FIRE Letter to Seminole Community College Vice President James D. Henningsen, June 7, 2005," June 7, 2005
• "E-mail Exchange Between Seminole Community College Administrator Randall Pawlowski and Eliana Campos," June 2, 2005
• "Letter from Seminole Community College Vice President James D. Henningsen to FIRE, May 18, 2005," May 18, 2005
• "FIRE Letter to Seminole Community College President E. Ann McGee, April 18, 2005," April 18, 2005
• "E-mail Exchange Between Seminole Community College Administrator Gail Agor and Eliana Campos," March 25, 2005

Media Coverage

• "Group Defends Campus Free-Speech Rights," JoAnn Loviglio, Associated Press, August 27, 2005: Since 1999, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has battled pro bono for evangelicals and atheists, animal rights activists and campus conservatives, and others who say they have been silenced by school administrations because of their points of view.
• "Philly group takes national lead in fighting campus censorship," JoAnn Loviglio, Associated Press State and Local Wire, August 21, 2005
• "Fla. College Student Successfully Fights Campus ‘Free Speech Zone’," Rebecca McNulty, Student Press Law Center, June 28, 2005: After Seminole Community College administrators and officials from FIRE corresponded over a two-month period, the college agreed to let Campos distribute her pamphlets near the café and revise their free speech zone policy.
• "Student Activist Wins ‘Free-Speech’ Battle," Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal, June 23, 2005: A Seminole Community College student has won the right to set up a table in the campus cafeteria and distribute literature on slaughterhouses after being told she couldn't because it would cause "exceptional controversy."
• "SCC Reverses Speech Decision," Orlando Sentinel, June 19, 2005: Seminole Community College did an about-face last week in a dispute over free speech. It originally refused to let a student hand out animal-rights brochures in the café at its Oviedo campus. The student could do that, but only in a designated "free-speech zone," administrators had said. They changed their position after a national group, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, took them on. The school says it will now re-evaluate its free-speech policies.
• "Victory for Animals and Free Speech!," peta2.com, June 17, 2005: Eliana, die-hard animal advocate that she is, was not deterred. She gathered support from a number of professors and contacted her friends at peta2 and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Through correspondence with the school and FIRE’s news release and action alert, the school agreed to respect Eliana’s civil liberties and allow her to table and distribute peta2 literature.
• "A Knuckleheaded Dad’s Vow to Do Better," Bart Adams, The Daily Record (Dunn, N.C.), June 17, 2005: But in the spirit of 18th-century French philosopher Voltaire (who is widely credited with saying, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”), I must now come to PETA’s defense.