The University of Colorado Boulder will temporarily discontinue enforcement of two University Memorial Center building policies. (Avery Clifton/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado reached a stipulation with five students who filed a lawsuit on Aug. 5. Under the agreement, the university will temporarily stop enforcing policies concerning “excessive or disruptive noise” and canvassing at the University Memorial Center (UMC).
The complaint claimed the two policies violated Colorado state law by designating “free speech zones” on campus. It also claims the policies create an unreasonable time, place, and manner restriction. The three undergraduate and two law students are only seeking to ban the enforcement of the policies; they are not requesting monetary compensation.
“This lawsuit is really about principles,” plaintiff and CU law student Amanda Kinder said. “You can’t put a price tag on free speech.”
The UMC policy signs will also not be displayed in or around the UMC as part of the agreement. While the stipulation was effective upon signing, it is not an admission of fault from the university. Kinder claimed that CU initiated the agreement.
“I definitely did not expect them to voluntarily come to the table with this,” she said. “It’s a really good sign for future negotiations.”
Sandwich Board in the University Memorial Center outlining prohibited activities under the building’s policies on Oct. 7, 2025. (Ainsley Coogan/CU Independent)
Kinder and the other students argued the policies are in violation of Colorado’s Student’s Right to Speak Act in the complaint. Implemented in 2017, the act prohibits public universities from designating free speech zones on campus or restricting expression in a student forum. It also states that time, place and manner restrictions — the circumstances that allow the government to restrict speech and expression legally under the First Amendment — must be reasonable.
The bill defines a student forum as “any generally accessible, open, outdoor area on the campus of an institution of higher education, as well as any nonacademic and publicly open portion of a facility that the institution of higher education has traditionally made available to students for expressive purposes.”
The lawsuit cites this definition, identifying the UMC as a student forum. According to its website, “the UMC is an exciting center for activism and community interaction. We celebrate diversity through food, dance, art, music and the free exchange of ideas.”
However, according to the UMC Building Policy and Campus Use of University Facilities (CUUF), excessive or disruptive noise and displaying signs or banners in unauthorized areas is prohibited. The lawsuit refers to these policies as “restrictive speech policies.”
Administrators have enforced the policies by subjecting student protesters and journalists to interim suspensions and exclusions.
Last October, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a non-registered student organization, demonstrated at a career fair with Lockheed Martin present. It had criticized the aerospace defense company for manufacturing weapons for the Israeli Defense Force.
Protestors chanted in front of the Lockheed Martin booth and wore shirts with expressive phrases like “Lockheed Kills Kids.”
Then, the university temporarily banned ten of the protestors and three student journalists from campus. One of the plaintiffs, undergraduate student Vincent Yourshaw, was a protestor.
Another plaintiff, law student Michelle Jacobs, also faced administrative restriction last October.
She’s a member of CU Boulder’s National Lawyers Guild (NLG) chapter, a public service student organization that often collaborates with SJP. The group hung flyers around the Wolf Law Building for a civil discourse event with the SJP logo.
Jacobs recalled in the lawsuit that Student Affairs, a branch of CU’s Office of Compliance, Ethics and Policy, told the group to remove the logo. She said NLG replaced it with the Palestine flag and received the same pushback. According to the complaint, only after removing the Palestinian imagery did the university approve the event advertisement.
Since then, the club has taken steps to ensure it doesn’t “step on too many toes,” according to the lawsuit.
“It was at that point where I was like, ‘Oh, so free speech isn’t actually a consideration here on campus,’” Jacobs said.
The lawsuit said all plaintiffs experienced a “chilling effect on their individual rights to engage in protected First Amendment expressive activity,” as a direct result of the policies.
Before witnessing and experiencing restrictions, Kinder and Jacobs acknowledged CU Boulder’s reputation for protecting and promoting free speech. The Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) ranked CU number five out of 257 colleges, which was an increase from its 2025 ranking.
“I hope that this (lawsuit) can allow CU to grow into a campus that truly is a free-speech campus in practice, not just survey,” Jacobs said.
CU spokesperson Nicole Cousins said the university does not comment on pending litigation.
“CU Boulder is committed to being a campus where people feel free to express their opinions, ask hard questions, challenge ideas, and engage with one another with curiosity, respect and the freedom to disagree,” she said.
Contact CU Independent News Editor Sarah Taylor at Sarah.Taylor-2@colorado.edu
