University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Student Government Executive Branch Bans Funding to Pro-Life Student Groups

On July 6, 2022, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student government executive branch issued an executive order stating that it will not “contract or expend funds to any individual, business, or organization which actively advocates to further limit by law access to reproductive healthcare, including, though not limited to, contraception and induced abortions.” FIRE wrote the UNC student government on July 28, calling on it to rescind the viewpoint-discriminatory order, and explaining that the First Amendment requires student governments of public universities to distribute funds from student activity fees to student groups in a viewpoint-neutral manner. On August 2, the university’s general counsel assured FIRE that any funding by the executive branch to student groups will be viewpoint neutral.