The civil liberties group Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and alumnus Jason Fager threatened legal action against OU in October after a mass e-mail instructed students not to use their OU accounts to exchange political information and endorse candidates.
The e-mail stated that OU could lose its designation as a non-profit organization if its system was used for political purposes.
The Sept. 12 e-mail, authored by Nick Hathaway, vice president for executive and administrative affairs, said “students may not use their accounts to endorse or oppose a candidate including political humor and commentary.”
But free speech experts said the university was misguided.
“The idea that the university could lose tax exempt status if students are forwarding political humor and commentary is entirely false,” Adam Kissel, member of FIRE, said.
After FIRE members complained about the e-mail, OU President David Boren revoked the political e-mail policy and released a statement.
“I applaud those who asked the questions about this policy which was worded to make it appear overly restrictive,” Boren said in the e-mail. “I am encouraged by the vigilance of members of the OU family in defense of free expression.”
Both FIRE and Fagen said they were satisfied with the clarification and revocation of the policy.
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