"It's a long ball game"

-Morton Blackwell

Hey John!

Pro-liberty students in the University of Maine system will no longer be silenced.

When it comes to repealing anti-liberty policies, YAL recognizes that bureaucrats will do anything they can to maintain control.

That's why we train our student leaders, above all, to be persistent when fighting to restore their rights.

Our recent 7-school free speech victory at the University of Maine system is a perfect example. 

After almost two years of badgering the University of Maine's administrators, YAL finally got an answer to the question our students asked in 2020:

"Does YAL's free speech victory at the University of Maine also eliminate free speech zones at all the UMaine sister campuses throughout the state?"

Turns out it does! YAL confirmed that all 7 schools in the UMaine system answer to the same UMaine Student Handbook … which YAL challenged to abolish free speech zones in 2020 and won. 

This means that now the entire University of Maine system has now BANNED free speech zones (University of Maine's main campus; the University of Maine at Augusta; University of Maine at Farmington; University of Maine at Fort Kent; University of Maine at Machias; University of Maine at Presque Isle; University of Southern Maine; and University of Maine School of Law).

YAL at UMaine Chapter President Dylan Oliver.

This all started in 2019 with a single phone call from then UMaine YAL Chapter President Dylan Oliver to our Director of Free Speech to report an impromptu free speech zone the school put up to censor students to the sidelines during a large campus speaker event.

After our team looked into it, we found no written speech zone policy and woke administrators had silenced students at their own whim.

There were additional written policies that inhibited student free expression, so we took action. Thanks to YAL supporters, Dylan was provided all the resources his chapter needed to fight for their rights.

YAL at UMaine's Free Speech Ball with Former State Senator Eric Brakey.

YAL members held multiple free speech events on campus. Meanwhile, YAL legal partners, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), drafted a policy memo to UMaine for Dylan to present to them.

Eventually the groundswell of pressure YAL and the students put on the administration caused them to cave and change the handbook to explicitly protect the First Amendment, but they dodged the question repeatedly on whether or not UMaine sister schools were affected… until now.

With our recent confirmation, what we thought was a great leap in Free Speech protection for 11 thousand students has now spread to restore the rights of over 28 thousand students annually across the UMaine system.

Truly one student activist can change thousands of lives when given the proper training and support.

John, the liberty movement couldn’t exist without the generosity of people like you, and your support is what lets YAL students like Dylan fight for free speech.

Thank you for passing on the torch of liberty,

JP Kirby
Director of Student Rights

Young Americans for Liberty 

P.S. Did you know that there are job opportunities with the Hazlitt Action Program and Operation Win at the Door for 2022? Click HERE to learn more.