INDIANAPOLIS – The ACLU of Indiana filed two federal lawsuits this morning against Ball State University over a provision in the university’s Non-Commercial Expressive Activity and Assembly on University Property policy that prohibits protests and demonstrations within fifty feet of most buildings on campus. The suits also contest the university’s use of campus rules to punish students who entered the administration building during normal business hours to leave notes for President Geoffrey S. Mearns expressing concerns about the university’s financial ties to Israel.
According to the complaints, on Nov. 19, 2025, the student plaintiffs went to the administration building to deliver notes to President Mearns. They were initially told to leave but were later allowed to remain in a hallway outside the president’s office to write their notes. When the building closed at 5 p.m., they promptly departed.
Ball State nevertheless concluded that the students had violated university policy and imposed disciplinary sanctions, including a semester-long suspension for one student.
The lawsuits challenge the university’s reliance on two rules: one barring students from participating in “protests” or “demonstrations” within fifty feet of most campus buildings, and another requiring students to comply with all directives from university officials.
The complaints allege that those rules, as written and applied, violate the First Amendment and that the students’ conduct was fully protected expression. The plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief blocking enforcement of the challenged rules, expungement of the students’ disciplinary records, and damages against the university officials responsible for imposing the sanctions.
“Ball State cannot use broad, unconstitutional policies to restrict protest and punish students for protected expression,” said Gavin M. Rose, Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU of Indiana. “The First Amendment protects students’ right to engage in peaceful political expression, whether that means demonstrating on campus or delivering written concerns to university leadership.”
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