OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma State University officials and an anti-abortion student group reached a settlement in a federal civil rights lawsuit Friday, part of which stipulates OSU must change its code of conduct and pay legal fees to an organization involved in a federal lawsuit fighting same-sex marriage in Oklahoma.
Last January, Cowboys for Life sued Kent Sampson, OSU's director of Campus Life, and multiple other OSU figures on allegations the school violated the group's First Amendment rights in October 2012 when members were unable to display photos of aborted fetuses in high-traffic areas of campus and hand passers-by literature about abortions.
Representatives from Alliance Defending Freedom, who helped the student plaintiffs find local legal representation, said at the time the case was a "textbook violation" of the First Amendment because officials reportedly attempted to pursue student conduct disciplinary charges against them on complaints of questioning why they couldn't post their displays near the OSU Student Union.
ADF serves as co-counsel for Tulsa County Court Clerk Sally Howe Smith, who is appealing the outcome of a decade-long federal lawsuit challenging a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the state. In January, Judge Terence C. Kern ruled the ban was unconstitutional.
OSU is set to pay ADF $25,000 in legal fees but does not admit liability or address the validity of the plaintiffs' claims, according to the settlement.
The original petition claimed OSU officials forced Cowboys for Life members to post warning signs around their displays but did not require other groups on campus, such as the Sexual Orientation Diversity Association, to do so when it hosted a "coming out of the closet" event at the same time. OSU restricted the group without merit because officials considered its displays overly graphic and offensive, ADF said.
In the settlement Friday, OSU agreed to amend its Student Code of Conduct, which now gives the school's Student Union Meeting and Conference Service office the ability to approve or deny space reservation requests on campus. The Campus Life office previously handled those requests, records show.
Will Creeley, director of Legal and Public Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit promoting free speech, First Amendment and religious liberty rights in higher education, said the decision was "a great victory for free speech rights" and said OSU was "lucky" the suit wasn't more costly.
"What they've done (in the new policies) is made it explicit that OSU cannot consider the viewpoint of the organization nor can they consider the content of the message the student organization wishes to convey," Creeley said. "The precedent has been clear for decades that students at public universities enjoy full First Amendment rights."
Multiple attempts to reach attorneys on both sides for comment were not immediately returned. Gary Shutt, OSU's director of Communications, said Saturday that the terms of the settlement speak for themselves and the university was pleased to have the case resolved.
Samantha Vicent 918-581-8321
Amended policies in OSU Student Code of Conduct
OSU's Student Union Meeting and Conference Services may deny space reservation requests from student groups and outside organizations sponsored by such groups for the following reasons only:
- The venue is reserved for another event
- The activity will attract a crowd larger than the venue can safely contain
- The activity will disrupt another event at a neighboring venue
- The activity is a clear and present threat to public safety, according to the OSU Police Department's standards
- The activity will substantially disrupt university operations, including classes.
* Requests can also be denied if sponsoring student groups or campus departments fail to comply with school reservation policies.
** Individuals wishing to perform outdoor activities including only the "peaceful distribution of literature, oral communication and the display of signs" no longer require OSU officials' permission beforehand. Academic class and intramural sport activities are also exempt from the rule.
OSU's code, last amended in July 2012, previously stated the Office of Campus Life would consider "public safety, welfare, health and non-interference with university academic endeavors" when granting space reservation requests, and that they could be denied if a student organization or campus department sponsored the same outside entity four times in a one-year period.
Source: OSU Student Code of Conduct
