Update on DMACC -- College folds under pressure from ADF

DES MOINES – Last week we reported on a case involving Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) after college officials barred Jacob Dagel, a Christian student at the college, from distributing fliers containing religious and political messages in the open-air quad on campus. The fliers protested the allocation of college funds to subsidize student tickets a conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. A campus security officer told Dagel that students must obtain a permit 10 school days prior to the activity and remain in a designated area.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a Federal suit against the college. The suit argued that the college’s speech policy unconstitutionally prohibited students from speaking spontaneously and open spaces of the campus.

This week the college has agreed to no longer enforce its policy of limiting its student speech to a table in the student center and also agreed to no longer require students to get permission to distribute flyers 10 days in advance.