Montclair State University: Student Group Threatened with Unconstitutional Security Fee

Two days before it was scheduled to host a speaking event with former education professor and activist Bill Ayers, MSU student group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was informed by MSU's Center for Student Involvement that it would be charged extra security fees for an unspecified number of extra security officers to handle possible protesters against the event. FIRE wrote to MSU President Susan A. Cole before the event to remind MSU that it may not burden the group by affixing a price tag to such events on the basis of their expressive content. MSU did not directly respond to FIRE, but SDS confirmed that MSU did not charge it for the extra security officers present at the event.