Identity of Speakers
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Young America's Foundation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Student
Invited for non-academic lectureConservative student organization that promotes "free speech" and right-wing political activism.
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Other student-organized event
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Right wing -
Incident Responses:
University administration invoked formal speech code in response
Faculty responses (e.g., asking student to leave classroom)
Title IX or other federal statute
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- Was Speech Code incident
Summary
On November 4, 2025, the Young America’s Foundation filed a civil‑rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging discriminatory censorship of student expression at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University’s Arizona campus. The complaint focused on a poster created by the university’s YAF student chapter advertising an event featuring former U.S. Representative Allen West scheduled for November 5 , 2025. The original poster included the wording “DEI IS RACISM” and stated that West would speak “against DEI.” The university rejected it on the basis that such language was impermissible under its event‑promotion guidelines.
The poster was submitted for approval on October 28 , 2025. In response to university officials’ objections, Isbell revised the promotional material multiple times: the first revision changed the tagline to “What is DEI?”, the second to “What is racism?”, and in the final version the students added a red “CENSORED” label and a statement reading “This is a violation of free speech and is hostile to our free, democratic society.” Each version was ultimately rejected by the university, which maintained that the original messaging and wording were not allowed under campus policy. The repeated rejections required the students to spend additional time and resources revising the posters and navigating the approval process, which they argued created a chilling effect on their ability to organize and publicize events.
YAF previously raised concerns in 2025 over a sweeping speech ban that prohibited outdoor events and demonstrations on religious and political topics at both the Arizona and Florida campuses. The organization claimed that conservative student initiatives, including those on pro‑Israel activism, sanctity of life issues, and opposition to certain aspects of transgender ideology, had been selectively restricted, while other student activism was permitted. The November complaint emphasized that the poster rejection followed this pattern and that the students’ ability to present the planned message was directly curtailed, highlighting broader concerns about how campus policies were enforced in practice.
The students argued that the removed language was central to the content of the lecture and essential to conveying their message, and that the university’s restrictions had effectively silenced their intended expression. They maintained that the approval process and repeated denials interfered with their capacity to communicate their viewpoint to the student body and imposed an undue administrative burden, reinforcing their claim of viewpoint‑based censorship.
