Brashier feeds FIRE
CCAC student claims First Amendment rights were squashed
Levi MtJoy and Amanda King, contributing reporter
Issue date: 5/31/09 Section: News
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Brashier, 24, an Allegheny Campus student who aspires to become an elementary school teacher and is enrolled in the CCAC/IUP Elementary Education Collaborative, accused CCAC May 27, 2009, of threatening free speech and prohibiting rights to organize a CCAC chapter of the group Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC).
"I won't be told to sit down and shut up," Brashier told the Voice in a phone interview.
Brashier is supported by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a non-partisan, non-profit Philadelphia-based organization. FIRE published a press release May 27, 2009, stating that Brashier "has been threatened with disciplinary action for her efforts."
"We hope that once the public knows about the mistake the CCAC administration made in denying one of its students her First Amendment rights, CCAC will reverse its decision and Ms. Brashier will be free to engage in expressive activities on campus," Robert Shibley, vice president of FIRE, told the Voice.
CCAC administrators were baffled by flying accusations and said Brashier's First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly were not prohibited but rather she did not follow CCAC policy.
Anyone wishing to distribute printed materials on CCAC campuses must first obtain a stamp showing approval to distribute, and in order to form a club on any CCAC campus, formal paperwork must first be filed and approved.
"The Dean of Students and Office of Student Life at Allegheny were perfectly legitimate in asking her to cease and desist the distribution of pamphlets," CCAC North Campus Diversity Officer and Professor of History, Dr. Helen Schlatterer told the Voice.
"Her actions were solicitous because she distributed pamphlets to recruit members for a CCAC campus chapter of SCCC that had not been officially established. That does not mean the college said she could not speak about it. It just means the distribution of materials and formation of a club or organization must be approved."
Brashier's self-generated tri-fold pamphlets list her as the "Campus Leader," feature a picture of a student holding a gun and incorporate CCAC's name in direct affiliation with SCCC.