Professor James of the Science Department has been actively against the lawsuit filed against Shippensburg University. She has worked for Shippensburg for about 13 years and has never thought there was a problem with the Speech codes at Shippensburg. .
James says: "The lawsuit is ridiculous, Shippensburg just updated their Code of conduct a year prior to the suit, but because most of the students don't know, they feel they still have the right to sue using the old code of conduct as their basis." .
On April 22, 2003 Walter Bair, Jennifer Coyle [not her real name] and the civil liberties group FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) filed suit against Shippensburg University saying that Shippensburg's policies on free speech are unconstitutional. .
When a few students displayed flags and banners on doors and hallways depicting a massage against Osama bin Laden and American military efforts in Afghanistan they were asked to remove them. Bair testified that the resident director told him to remove .
them stating they were offensive to others and in violation of the University's code of .
conduct. Bair and other students complied with the orders to remove the banners because they feared punishment if they did not. .
In another incident anti-war demonstrators were asked to move to a designated area. James says that the demonstrators were "in the way of students going to class and a few were harassing people. They were asked to move about 50 yards away so they were between the science building and the CUB [Cumberland Union Building]. Some demonstrators refused so campus security had to forcibly remove them" .
FIRE is currently part of a nationwide effort to challenge and change speech policies at colleges and universities. FIRE states that although many students respect disagreement and differences that university policies encourage students to bring up charges against those who may offend others.