“At Arkansas Tech University, that is the way things work. Free Speech Zones trump the Constitution.” At least that is what Arkansas Tech University used to believe. In September 2016, Jason Hammons and his YAL Chapter took to campus with an 8 foot inflatable beach ball.

When the University Police Department stopped Jason Hammons they asked him if he had a permit to use University facilities. Hammons whipped out his pocket Constitution, flipped to page 20, and informed the officer that he indeed had a permit, it just was not from the University. “It’s called the First Amendment.”

Jason Hammons reported the instance to YAL’s Director of Free Speech, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, who worked to reform the unconstitutional free speech zones on Arkansas Tech University’s campus.