Archer v. Mearns (Ball State University)

Summary

On March 2, 2026, the ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of Cooper Archer (Archer v. Mearns) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, challenging the constitutionality of Ball State University’s policies on expressive activity and student conduct. The complaint alleged violations of Archer’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and sought declaratory and injunctive relief to bar enforcement of the policies, expunge disciplinary records, and recover damages from university officials. The complaint described the university’s fifty-foot policy as overly broad and content-neutral but effectively restricting most campus expression and argued that disciplining students for peaceful, non-disruptive activity violated core First Amendment protections.

The lawsuit arose from events on November 19, 2025, when eleven undergraduate students entered the Ball State Administration Building to deliver written concerns regarding the university’s financial relationships with Israel. University officials initially asked the students to leave, but the students remained in a hallway outside the administration offices to write and leave notes. They left the building when it closed at 5 p.m. The complaint emphasized that the students’ actions were nonviolent, nondisruptive, and did not interfere with university operations.

Following the incident, the university disciplined the students under two policies. The Non-Commercial Expressive Activity and Assembly on University Property policy prohibited expressive activities within fifty feet of most campus buildings. The Student Code of Conduct required students to follow directives from university officials. Cooper Archer received a semester-long suspension and probation. The other ten students were placed on conduct probation, required to write reflection papers, and received additional sanctions, including warnings and restrictions on future campus activities. The complaint noted that the students’ conduct did not threaten safety, disrupt classes, or impede normal university functions, yet the university imposed these sanctions solely for engaging in peaceful expressive activity.

At the same time, the ACLU filed a companion lawsuit, Allen v. Mearns, on behalf of the other ten students. Although both cases arose from the same incident and challenged the same university policies, they were separate actions. Allen v. Mearns focused on the remaining students and sought similar relief, including declaratory and injunctive remedies and expungement of disciplinary records.