Student Rights Week

“You’ve learned their rules, now learn your rights!”

Anyone who has been through freshman orientation knows what a brainwashing experience it can be. Administrators and counselors spend days lecturing incoming students on what they cannot say on campus, what the campus police are allowed to do at their whim, and the many ways that students are supposed to conform to the university’s will. From restrictive speech codes and “free speech zones” to academic discrimination and harsh drug possession crimes, university administrators are waging war against student’s civil liberties.

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That is why in August 2009 SFL launched our first Students Rights Week. The concept of the project was to leverage pre-existing resources such as Cato Pocket Constitutions, Free Speech handbooks from FIRE, and copies of the DVD Indoctrinate U to assist students in the fight for their civil liberties on campus. We also produced a Students Rights Week flier to help groups promote their activities. The idea was that pro-liberty student groups could use these resources during the first week of school to both attract new members to their groups while spreading the message of liberty to the campus community. Unsurprisingly, students flocked to these resources. In total 38 student groups from across the country put these resources to use on their campuses. The Students Rights Week participants made up a broad and diverse coalition that may disagree on many issues, but they all agree that their civil liberties are threatened and need to be defended.

Participating Groups
Arizona State University Students for Liberty
Arizona State Young Americans for Liberty
American University Students For Liberty
Appalachian State U. Young Americans for Liberty
Boston University ACLU
California State, Sacramento U. Students for Liberty
Catholic University Young Americans for Liberty
Central Washington University Liberty Club
Columbia University Libertarians
The Drexel Liberty Front
Edgewood College Republicans
East Tennessee State U., Students of American Liberty
Emory & Henry College Libertarians
Florida State University Libertarians
George Mason University Students For Liberty
Georgia State University Federalist Society
Georgetown Hoyas For Liberty
Grinnell Liberty
Kentucky Students For Liberty
Lourdes College Young Republicans
James Madison University Madison Liberty
Marquette University Young Americans for Liberty
UMass, Dartmouth Libertarians
Michigan State University Young Americans for Liberty
Michigan, Ann Arbor College Libertarians
Michigan, Flint College Libertarians
Missouri University, Columbia College Republicans
University of Nevada, Reno Students For Liberty
North Carolina-Chapel Hill Libertarians
Northern Colorado College Republicans
Northwestern University Students for Liberty
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute College Libertarians
The Plymouth Review
Rutgers Young Americans for Liberty
Seton Hall University Students for Individual Liberty
Tennessee, Chattanooga Libertarians
Washington & Lee University Libertarians
Wake Forest Young Americans for Liberty
Wisconsin-Madison Young Americans for Liberty