Did Title VI Guidance to Colleges Suppress Protesters’ First Amendment Rights? A Lawsuit Seeks Answers.

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit last week against the U.S. Department of Education, demanding the release of all guidance it has given to colleges on how to fight discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. The free-speech advocacy group believes the federal agency has been privately instructing college administrators on how they should respond to campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. The department, the institute alleges, has denied several requests to make public parts of its guidance to colleges since the start of the war. The Department of Education declined to comment on the pending litigation.