Whereas in Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169 (1972), the Supreme Court of the United States held that the First Amendment applies in full force on public college and university campuses; Whereas in Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263 (1981), the Supreme Court of the United States observed that the campus of a public university, at least for its students, possesses many of the characteristics of a public forum ; Whereas lower Federal courts have also held that the open, outdoor areas of public college and university campuses are public forums; Whereas section 112(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1011a(a)(2) ) contains a sense of Congress noting that an institution of higher education should facilitate the free and open exchange of ideas, students should not be intimidated, harassed, discouraged from speaking out, or discriminated against, students should be treated equally and fairly, and nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to modify, change, or infringe upon any constitutionally protected religious liberty, freedom, expression, or association ; Whereas despite the clarity of the applicable legal precedent and the vital importance of protecting our Nation’s public colleges as true marketplaces of ideas, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has found that roughly 1 in 10 of America’s top colleges and universities quarantine student expression to so-called free speech zones, that more than 20 speakers were disinvited from speaking on campuses in 2016, and a survey of 449 schools found that almost 40 percent maintain severely restrictive speech codes that clearly and substantially prohibit constitutionally protected speech; Whereas according to the American Civil Liberties Union, Speech codes adopted by government-financed state colleges and universities amount to government censorship, in violation of the Constitution. And the ACLU believes that all campuses should adhere to First Amendment principles because academic freedom is a bedrock of education in a free society.