KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - University of Tennessee trustees have approved a new policy that requires speakers to be invited to campus.
The unanimous decision on Thursday came six months after a federal court struck down its former policy as vague and open to discrimination.
The ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals came after preacher John McGlone of Breeding, Ky., filed suit against the university after being asked in 2010 to leave the Knoxville campus.
The court concluded the regulations were arbitrarily applied to speakers, sometimes to the detriment of the person seeking to speak on campus.
UT President Joe DiPietro told the Knoxville News Sentinel (https://bit.ly/NCyXsg) that the new policy was drafted with advice from university attorneys and he’s confident it would withstand any challenge.
“We need to be able to maintain our campuses as a place where we can do our business around education … and preclude activities that are disruptive at moments,” DiPietro said. “This is a way to be able to protect our faculty and staff to be able to do what they need to do.”
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Information from: Knoxville News Sentinel, https://www.knoxnews.com
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