INSOMNIA THEATER (IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME EDITION): In 2013, Utah’s Dixie State University refused to recognize a local campus sorority because it used Greek letters in its name. Despite repeated efforts by students and FIRE, Dixie State continued to defend this unconstitutional policy, earning itself a spot on FIRE’s 2013 list of “The 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech.” As best as we can tell, the policy is still in place.
But the news coming out of Dixie State isn’t all bad. This week, Dixie State agreed to settle a First Amendment lawsuit filed by three students after the school refused to approve flyers promoting the students’ Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) group. As part of the settlement, Dixie State agreed to revise the policies targeted by the lawsuit to meet First Amendment standards, to provide training to administrators about the new policies, and to pay $50,000 in damages and attorney’s fees. As the Greeks might say: “Nike!”