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The ACLU of Indiana is suing leaders at Ball State University, arguing a provision of the university’s expressive activity policy violates students’ First Amendment rights, as does the use of campus rules to punish students who allegedly violate the expressive activity policy.
The ACLU filed two lawsuits Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against multiple members of university leadership on behalf of nearly a dozen students involved in a late November 2025 incident. Both of the lawsuits name President Geoffrey Mearns and Director of the Office of Student Conduct Kaleigh Richardson.
Attorneys have not been listed for the university or the defendants. Greg Fallon, associate vice president of university communications for Ball State, told The Indiana Lawyer the university does not comment on pending litigation.
According to the lawsuits, the students visited the campus administration building during normal business hours to leave notes for Mearns expressing their concerns regarding the university’s financial ties to Israel. When they arrived at the building, they were initially told to leave, but were subsequently allowed to stay in a hallway outside the president’s office to write the notes. When the building closed at 5 p.m., the students all left, according to the lawsuit.
However, the students were all later found to have violated two university policies: one prohibiting protests or demonstrations within 50 feet of most campus buildings and the other requiring students to comply with directives from university officials, according to the lawsuits.
The students received a range of disciplinary sanctions. Most received sanctions such as being placed on “conduct probation” for a semester or a year and being required to complete a 1,500-word “research and reflection paper,” the lawsuit states. One of the students was suspended from Ball State for the spring 2026 semester due to prior discipline.
The students were all able to appeal the sanctions but were still found to have violated both the 50-foot policy and the failure-to-comply provision.
The ACLU argues that both the 50-foot policy and failure-to-comply provision violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The organization argues that the the university’s decision to take disciplinary actions against students for engaging in expressive activity that did not disrupt university operations also violates the First Amendment.
Plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the 50-foot policy and a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from enforcing the failure-to-comply provision. The plaintiffs also ask for a permanent injunction for the university to expunge any records related to the disciplinary actions taken.
The lawsuits are: Allen et al v. Mearns et al, 1:26-cv-00409-RLY-TAB, and Archer v. Mearns et al, 1:26-cv-00410-JRO-MG.
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