A legal organization accused an Edwardsville university of violating the constitutional rights of a Christian student.
A university in Edwardsville, Illinois forbade a student from talking to three students who disagreed with her religious beliefs, sparking an argument from a legal organization that the university violated the Christian student's constitutional rights. In February, Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville after it ordered Christian student Maggie DeJong not to have "any contact" with three students.
The Christian Headlines reported that DeJong is a student in the master's in art therapy counseling program who was barred from having "any contact" or "indirect communication with three students who had complained to the Illinois university, claiming that the Christian student's faith-centric viewpoint is not "welcome or appropriate."
The Illinois university did not provide any basis for their orders to the Christian student, which allegedly "limit her speech and physical presence on and off campus" until the end of the semester, the letter argued. ADF added that the university even acknowledged that DeJong's conduct did not violate any university policy. However, the university said that non-contact orders were to "prevent interactions that could be perceived by either party as unwelcome, retaliatory, intimidating, or harassing," the letter explained.
Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel and director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, argued that university classrooms should be a place "where topics are supposed to be vigorously debated, should be marketplaces of ideas, not an assembly line for one type of thinking."
Langhofer said that DeJong had always "always respectfully expressed her viewpoint in class," a right that is protected under the First Amendment. He urged the Illinois university to "immediately rescind" its no-contact order to the Christian student and "revise its policies to adequately safeguard students' constitutional rights."
The Daily Citizen reported that the source of dispute was DeJong's Christian beliefs. The Christian student once told a classmate that "her personal beliefs are grounded in objective truth by the gospel of Jesus Christ." Now, the Illinois university's no-contact orders have prevented the Christian student from "fully" participating in classes with the three students who raised their concerns or participate in group chats in which the three students are also a part of.
As per Langhofer, DeJong said she "chose to fight" because she knew that there are other students like her who are afraid to speak out against this type of censorship. Langhofer also issued a warning to parents to "understand the culture" of public universities, which are often "hostile" to Christian believers. Langhofer also urged parents to equip their children with "knowledge and courage" to "speak the truth" despite the criticism their children may receive.
In January, a survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education revealed that there has been a rise in students' self-censorship, Inside Higher Ed reported. As of 2021, 80% of surveyed students reported self-censorship, a rise from the 60% who said the same in 2020. Self-censorship refers to when a person feels reluctant to speak.
In the book "Speechless" by conservative talk show host Michael Knowles, statistics gathered by Echelon Insights in 2019 showed that "nearly half of students aged 13 to 22 'stopped [themselves] from sharing [their] ideas or opinions in class discussions' for fear of reprisal from the enforcers of political correctness."
The book added further, "The students have every reason to fear punishment for contradicting leftist orthodoxy."
