Barry University School of Law will allow students to form a chapter of Turning Point USA after reversing an earlier denial, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said, according to a report by Florida’s Voice and a statement to Fox News Digital.
Uthmeier told Fox News Digital that he was “glad Barry Law reversed course and is allowing its students an opportunity to hear ideas that are outside of the left-wing echo chamber.” Florida’s Voice reported April 22 that the law school had complied with Uthmeier’s demands that the private Catholic institution had engaged in viewpoint discrimination.
In an April 9 letter, Uthmeier wrote that denying students the ability to form a Turning Point USA chapter “likely violates students’ contractually ‘guaranteed’ freedom of expression and association” and “discourages free discussion, inquiry, and expression,” the letter said. He said the denial appeared to be based on the group’s affiliation and that Barry Law had been asked to respond by May 15.
Uthmeier also pointed to the law school’s recognition of other student groups, saying Barry Law has an OUTLaw chapter and a chapter of the ACLU. He wrote that those recognitions, he argued, undermined Barry Law’s stated rationale for denying the TPUSA chapter and represented “disparate treatment,” according to the April 9 letter.
Fox News Digital contacted Barry University for comment and did not immediately receive a response, the outlet said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
