Nick Consolini came to YALs National Convention in 2017 not knowing a soul. He left with plans to sue his University that year if they continued to routinely violate his First Amendment rights.

For the past twenty years, at least, UMASS – Amherst has been employing the “lunch break” clause of the First Amendment. For students at UMASS – Amherst, Free Expression only occured from 12PM – 1PM on one side of the University’s student union. One hour. That’s all students were allotted.

Lawsuit in hand, Nick filed a federal lawsuit against the University claiming the policy was so strict, that it in fact deterred him from wanting to speak freely on campus, for fear of arrest.

After filing the lawsuit with the Alliance Defending Freedom in the beginning of the year, the University inevitably crumbled instead of admitting on the record they knowingly restricted Free Speech for multiple decades.