What started as pro-Palestinian student protests on the University of South Florida Tampa campus last year has turned into a free speech battle in court.
Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and three individual plaintiffs filed a lawsuit Oct. 8 against USF’s Board of Trustees, pesident Rhea Law, campus police and several administrators.
They claim their free speech and civil rights were violated under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as well as the Florida Free Expression on Campus Act. That says students can’t be discriminated against based on speech.
USF permanently revoked the group’s recognition as a student organization after a pair of demonstrations on April 29-30, 2024, ended with the arrest of 13 protestors, including a number of students.
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SDS student organizer Victoria Hinckley said she was suspended the night of the second protest — one assignment away from graduation.
“Hours after I saw my friends tear-gassed on campus, I saw police shooting rubber bullets. That night is when I got my letter saying that I caused that to happen,” Hinckley said. “Which isn’t true, obviously.”
Hinckley also said SDS didn’t reserve space with USF to protest because the university would put those groups in areas away from students and administration buildings.
"We wanted to express our right to free speech because we know we have it — especially on campus, that's a free expression zone,” Hinckley said. “We wanted to choose where we could have the protest and we wanted to reach students where they really were, not where USF admin was telling us to be.”
A statement from the university said that USF values free speech, but such activities need to follow university policy, and state and federal laws.
“USF stands by the sanctions imposed on SDS, and we will defend ourselves against these meritless claims through the legal process,” director of media relations Althea Johnson said in an email.
SDS filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa and seeks damages, as well as reinstatement as a campus organization.
“This whole process has proven to us that USF doesn’t value free speech,” Hinckley said. “It’s free speech on their terms.”
