On April 21, 2026, Defending Education (DE) filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri against Missouri State University and several university officials, on behalf of itself and some of its student members. The lawsuit challenges the university’s “bias response” policy, which violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments’ guarantees of free speech and expression.
College campuses should be a “marketplace of ideas” where every perspective is welcome. But Missouri State adopted a far-reaching policy designed to stop students from voicing unpopular views on the political and social issues. The university defines bias as “language or behaviors that demonstrate bias against persons or groups because of ability, race, color, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, faith, national origin, political orientation, or sexual orientation in which the perpetrator(s) cannot be identified and/or the acts of bias do not rise to the level of discrimination or harassment for purposes of Title IX.” These vaguely defined “bias incidents” can happen on or off campus, including on social media, and the university keeps records to “monitor” and “track” them.
Students accused of “bias incidents” are reported to a “Bias Response Team” led by senior administrators. The team can call students in for meetings, “educate” them about why their speech was wrong, and even refer them to offices that can discipline them. When students fear being reported or punished, they start to censor themselves. This vague, overly broad, viewpoint-based definition of “bias” is unconstitutional.
DE looks forward to the day when its members’ rights are defended in federal court and all college students, whatever their views, can speak without fear of being censored or punished.
Read the complaint below:
