Grassroot Institute of Hawaii to Present Award to Stand Up For Speech Plaintiffs

People pay attention when you stand up for speech. Tomorrow, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii will recognize Merritt Burch and Anthony Vizzone with the 2015 Unsung Hero Award for their work challenging speech codes at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. As Torch readers know, Merritt and Anthony were among the plaintiffs in the inaugural batch of First Amendment lawsuits orchestrated under FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project. Thanks to their courageous actions, the University of Hawaii implemented system-wide revisions to their speech policies, restoring expressive rights to 59,000 enrolled students.

The event will take place at The Pacific Club in Honolulu and will feature a Skype interview with FIRE President Greg Lukianoff.

We join the Grassroot Institute in celebrating Merritt’s and Anthony’s successful speech code challenge, and we encourage all in the area to attend the presentation.

What: Merritt Burch and Anthony Vizzone presented with 2015 Unsung Hero Award

Where: The Pacific Club, 1451 Queen Emma Street, Honolulu, HI 96813

When: Friday, January 30; 7:30 a.m. HST

View video