A group advocating for free speech on campuses is going after a college that punished a student group for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is launching an “Emerson Kinda Sus” mobile billboard after the Turning Point USA chapter at Emerson College was suspended for handing out “China Kinda Sus” stickers. The stickers and the phrase were based on characters and a phrase associated with the video game “Among Us.”
The group is also launching ads at two locations on Boston’s subway system. The ads point people to a website that calls out Emerson College, EmersonKindaSus.com.
Emerson College acknowledged that the TPUSA chapter’s materials were criticizing the Chinese government, but still found the group guilty of violating the college’s “Bias Related Behavior” policy, FIRE said. The group was forced to stop handing out the stickers.
“I was born in Singapore,” KJ Lynum, vice president of the TPUSA chapter at Emerson College, said. “So to be called anti-Asian was very strange.”
“Emerson’s decision to punish the group despite the facts shows the school’s utter disregard for its own free speech promises,” FIRE said on EmersonKindaSus.com.
The group appealed a decision finding them guilty of creating “a hostile, intimidating or offensive working, living or learning environment,” which was denied on Nov. 12. A number of student groups demanded the college act against the conservative student group.
FIRE noted on EmersonKindaSus.com that with a formal warning on its record, the conservative student group would likely have to “tread carefully” to avoid harsh penalties in the event of being found responsible for a subsequent violation.
Emerson College did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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