Fascism Much? Dixie State U. Prohibited Flyers That Mocked U.S. Presidents
It's disparaging.
Administrators at Dixie State University prohibited libertarian students from handing out flyers to promote their club because the flyers featured images that playfully mocked U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Mockery, even of national political figures, is considered disparaging behavior and is forbidden under school policy.
Here are a few of the offending images from the flyers, according to The College Fix:
That's right: Using memes and catchphrases to lamely poke fun at kings Bush and Obama was deemed impermissible at a public university in the state of Utah.
If that wasn't enough, the university also denied the students' request to set up a free speech wall outside the designated "free speech zone." After the wall eventually did go up, a campus police officer monitored it for hate speech.
Dixie State has so transparently violated its students First Amendment rights that it's borderline absurd, but the campus's Young Americans for Liberty chapter has to sue the school before those rights are recognized. Students William Jergins, Joey Gillespie, and Forrest Gee did so earlier this month with the help of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. I expect them to win, and win quickly.
Even so, I shudder to think what kind of education students could possibly be receiving at an institution that doesn't allow even mild criticism of people in positions of power—or anyone else, for that matter.
