Two students at the University of Minnesota are suing their university over its relationship with nine prominent leftist student groups. The students allege in their lawsuit that the university exclusively provides on-campus meeting space for student organizations that engage in progressive activism.
According to a report by the Star Tribune, students Evan Smith and Isaac Smith of the University of Minnesota are suing their school over its alleged preferential treatment towards leftist student groups.
The students claim that the university exclusively provides certain resources to nine student groups that engage in progressive activism. The groups mentioned in the lawsuit are the Black Student Union, La Raza Student Cultural Center, Disabled Student Cultural Center, Feminist Student Activist Collective, Queer Student Cultural Center, Asian-American Student Union, Minnesota International Student Association, American Indian Student Cultural Center, and the Al-Madinah Cultural Center.
The nine groups were granted office space inside the Coffman Memorial Union building on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. According to the lawsuit, no other student group is permitted to request similar accommodations. The lawsuit estimates that the lease value of the office space is $30,000 per year.
The lawsuit also questions the constitutionality of a policy that blocks partisan groups from accessing funds that are designated for student organizations. Moreover, the student newspaper and radio station received nearly $1 million in university funding in 2019. However, regular student organizations can only receive up to $55,000 per year.
Attorney Erick Kaardal, who represents the students, argued that the designation of the Coffman Memorial Union building as a meeting space for leftist student groups highlights the university’s bias.
“The University of Minnesota has created a student-services-fee-funded shrine on the second floor of Coffman Memorial Union to worship the great god of political correctness,” Kaardal said. “In order to do so, the university trashes the First Amendment. The public expects the university to take care of and educate its students, not to abuse their student services fees.”
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