– The Washington Times
A free speech advocacy group is accusing a North Carolina law school of political bias for banning anti-violence posters from certain areas of campus depicting slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said Campbell Law School engaged in viewpoint discrimination by ordering student Justin Booker to remove the flyers, which call for an end to political violence, from hallways and columns on the Raleigh campus.
Mr. Booker said he was told that school policy allows flyers to be posted only on designated bulletin boards and prohibits displaying them anywhere else.
Even so, the foundation said that “other flyers that did not reference Kirk were not taken down,” despite being posted on public surfaces other than bulletin boards, as shown in photographs taken by Mr. Booker.
“Booker’s flyer was unquestionably protected by Campbell’s strong and laudable free expression promises, which bar the university from enforcing its policies against expression based on the speaker’s viewpoint,” the foundation said in a letter dated Tuesday to Campbell University President William Downs.
“We urge Campbell to uphold these commitments, remove the restriction on Booker’s flyers, and repeal its publication removal policy,” the letter said.
Mr. Booker put up the posters on Sept. 11, 2025 — the day after Kirk was shot and killed as he spoke at Utah Valley University — affixing them to campus walls and columns where clusters of flyers advertising events and products were already on display.
The next day, Regina Chavis, assistant dean of student life, “ordered Booker not to continue placing copies of the flyer anywhere within the law school, citing school policy.”
“Yet while Booker’s flyers were removed, other flyers that did not reference Kirk were not taken down,” the letter said. “Booker photographed the places where his flyers were hung to show that the other flyers had not been removed. Campbell’s viewpoint-discriminatory flyer removal violates its free speech promises.”
Mr. Booker filed an internal complaint with the university, but it was rejected Tuesday, prompting the foundation to send its letter demanding that the university allow him to post his flyers and “enforce its policies in a viewpoint-neutral manner.”
The flyers showed a photo of Kirk and his wife Erika Kirk holding their two young children with the caption, “End Political Violence.”
Campbell’s speech policy states that the university is “committed to free and open inquiry in all matters, ensuring that all members of the Law School community have the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn,” as well as “the right to express their opinion.”
Dominic Coletti, the foundation’s program director, said that Campbell should be “prepared to explain to a community of law students and legal faculty why rules of purportedly general application actually apply only to those with disfavored viewpoints.
“Preferably, the university could further support a culture of free expression by allowing all such displays to remain up and formally expanding the number of areas for expression,” Mr. Coletti said in a statement. “This should not be overly difficult since, at least for some of its constituents, this expanded area for expression is already a reality.”
The Washington Times has reached out to Campbell for comment.
Campbell Law, also known as the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, is “one of the smallest ABA-accredited private law schools in the country,” with about 420 students, according to the Law School Admission Council.
The law school is part of Campbell University, a private Christian institution affiliated with the Baptist State Convention in North Carolina.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
