At the University of Delaware students were required to register and reserve space on campus for any, and all, “expressive activities” on campus. This requirement gave the University the power to ultimately dictate what speech was allowed on campus, and where that speech would take place. Until Connor McGinley, Jason Stewart, and Joseph Lawless took issue with it.

In the Fall of 2016, Jason and his YAL Chapter were rolling around a free speech ball on campus. As with many of these events, it is hard to say what EXACTLY will be written on the ball. After all, these are college students. One student complained about the drawing of a phallic object on the free speech ball. The cops were called and instructed the group to either censor speech on campus or be shut down.

This resulted in the Foundation for Individual RIghts in Education to assist our students in lobbying the University to reform the policies. After 4 semesters of meetings, free speech balls, petition gathering, and hundreds of constitutions distributed, the University ultimately removed the policy and made a greater expressed commitment to free speech.