$9.2 Million Grant Will Be Used To Defend Free Speech At Universities
A $9.2 million grant was given to a Christian legal defense firm to combat public university polices that are designed to silence professors and students from expressing their religious viewpoints.
The Alliance Defense Fund received the $9.2 million grant from a generous family — funds that ADF themselves are matching — which designates nearly $20 million to aggressively fight for freedom of speech and religions expression in higher education establishments.
“Christians on public university campuses shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel David French, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. “Many colleges and universities across the nation have enacted unconstitutional policies and practices censoring Christian speech, banning Christian groups from campus, and punishing professors and students. Thanks to this extremely generous gift, we are better prepared than ever to work toward restoring the ‘marketplaces of ideas’ that these academic institutions were intended to be.”
ADF says the University Project, at SpeakUpMovement.org, is designed to bring about drastic change in campuses across the nation by encouraging students and faculty to “speak up” against their institutions that have made it their policy to silence their religious opinions.
“More than 70 percent of these institutions have restrictive speech policies, or ‘speech codes,’ that are in direct violation of the First Amendment,” said French. “We are now in full throttle to drive this form of censorship off publicly funded campuses for good.”
The $9.2 million grant will be divided up over the next three years, with $2.2 million allocated for this year, prompting ADF to launch the initiative full force.
Those who are concerned about religious liberties on campuses across the nation have responded overwhelmingly to this years $2.2 million matching grant program. Within only a few weeks, ADF has raised over $1 million from charitable citizens.
The generous gifts by donors is set to produce a high return on their investment. In over 40 cases that ADF has brought against public universities and colleges for their unconstitutional practices, they have never failed to achieve policy changes or other positive outcomes for both students and faculty.
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- Attorneys Fight to Restore Free Speech In National Parks
- Lousiana Federal Court Says Town Violated Christian’s Free Speech Rights
- Liberty Counsel Petitions U.S. Supreme Court to Hear School Graduation Free Speech Case
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