The Upper Midwest Law Center and the Liberty Justice Center are suing St. Cloud University in Minnesota for forcing students to pay fees to a student group that uses the money to lobby for left-wing causes. They argue that the mandatory fee violates the First Amendment freedom against compelled speech.
Such mandatory fees are a major source of revenue for the campus left. Mandatory fees collected by university-recognized student associations have been used to lobby for campus speech restrictions, rent control, getting rid of campus police, extending child support laws to cover adult college students, and imposing higher minimum wages.
St. Cloud — which is a public university — filed a motion to dismiss on July 15, saying that the allegations, even if true, don’t show a violation of the First Amendment, which it says permits such fees to be collected and then given to left-wing student groups like Students United.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of recent St. Cloud graduate Tayah Lackie, and asks that the court “award damages against Defendants in the amount of all fees Plaintiff was required to pay Students United as a condition of her enrollment at St. Cloud University.”
Lackie only discovered that she was funding left-wing lobbying by Students United after she graduated. She disagrees with campaigns conducted by Students United, such as “FCK Student Debt”, which she opposes because she “paid [her] own way without taking on debt.”
The complaint filed in her lawsuit says Students United is “a private corporation created for the purpose of engaging in political speech, which advocates for and takes positions on controversial policies and legislation, and which purports to speak on all students’ behalf.”
It argues that collecting fees from students to support such political speech is a form of compelled speech and thus violates the First Amendment rights of students.
Jacob Huebert, president of the Liberty Justice Center, says that “a victory in this case would establish that state colleges and universities cannot force students to pay fees to an activist group just to be allowed to attend.”
Students are charged “80 cents per credit” to support Students United.
But Lackie said she received little information that the university was charging her to fund the group. It was only in 2024 that she saw the charges on her “account statement” that showed fees deducted. “Apart from those account statements, neither St. Cloud State nor Students United informed Ms. Lackie that she was required to pay fees to Students United,” the court complaint says.
As The College Fix notes, “The fees collected go to the Minnesota State University Student Association, also called Students United, for lobbying activities. This includes pushing for a taxpayer bailout of student loans.”
Today our student leaders set off for Washington, D.C.! We will be advocating for our 2024 federal agenda including students’ basic needs, college affordability, and civic engagement. Follow along for updates!#StudentsUnited #WashingtonDC #SUFederalFlyIn2024 pic.twitter.com/W0tv7XGxzN
— Students United (@Students7United) March 5, 2024
The lawsuit notes that Students United “receives most of its funding– 76%, according to its projection for Fiscal Year 2024– from students’ mandatory fees.” It also notes that “students… are not informed of any right they have not to associate with Students United” and are not “given any opportunity to waive any right not to associate with Students United.”
Minnesota State’s Doug Anderson says state universities like St. Cloud collect the fees by law. He says “Minnesota Statute Section 136F.22 requires Minnesota State to recognize one statewide student association for the state universities, makes all state university students members of that organization, and requires each state university to collect fees on that organization’s behalf….St. Cloud and other Minnesota State universities [are] follow[ing] that statute” when collecting fees for Students United.
