Vanderbilt University took some well-deserved lambasting for its ludicrous policy forcing virtually all student groups on campus to let any interested student join and seek a leadership position — meaning students of similar ideology or faith, for example, are in effect denied freedom of association. They suffer forfeiture of their campus space and loss of their Vanderbilt affiliation if they don’t obey.
Still, as a private institution, Vanderbilt has the right to set those types of bad policies.
Not so at publicly funded Tennessee Tech, and a recent federal appeals court ruling is a first step toward setting things right at the Cookeville school.
There is a public perception that college and university campuses are free speech free-for-alls, with pretty much any kind of expression not only permitted but heartily fostered and encouraged.
But Tennessee Tech established a rule that set that notion on its head.