UNIVERSITY OF OREGON’S STUDENT GOVERNMENT DISCRIMINATES AGAINST STUDENT GROUP HOLDING PRO-GUN RIGHTS EVENT- Wednesday night, the University of Oregon’s student government, the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO), refused to fund a poker night event hosted by UO’s chapter of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) amid concerns the event’s pro-gun message and prizes “would make students feel uncomfortable.” This is the second time ASUO has denied funding for the event.

The funding YAL requested was intended to cover the cost of pizza and rental fees— YAL promised that no ASUO money would go toward covering the event’s prizes, which would include three firearms donated by local gun dealers. Additionally, YAL pledged that the winners would receive the firearms off campus and in accordance with state and federal law.

As Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Senior Program Officer Ari Cohn said in our recent press release:

ASUO’s budget is subsidized by mandatory fees paid by students … As a result, ASUO must distribute its funds in a viewpoint-neutral manner. ASUO has clearly failed to adhere to this obligation. Since ASUO is an agent of a public university, the University of Oregon administration is legally and morally required to intervene to rectify the First Amendment violations perpetrated by ASUO.

You can read the full press release over at FIRE’s website. You can also join FIRE in writing to University of Oregon President Michael H. Schill to demand that expressive activity on UO’s campus not be subject to viewpoint-based discrimination, either by university administrators or by ASUO in executing its delegated authority to distribute student activity fees.