"Free to Speak?"
Free Speech Protections for International Students and Academics
Presented by the NBA Immigration Law Section
1.0 General Credit
*All-Access CLE 2025 Pass eligible program.
Free speech on campuses is already a livewire issue, and when international students or non-citizen scholars are involved, the stakes are even higher. Decided in September 2025 in AAUP v. Rubio, a Federal judge ruled on what free speech protections university students and academics have, especially as it relates to those on visas. This CLE examines the intersection of First Amendment free speech protections on campus — particularly for non-citizen and international students — through the lens of the recent district-court decision AAUP v. Rubio. Dr. John R. Vile, Dean and Professor of Political Science of the Honors College at MTSU, will discuss the factual background of the litigation, the legal reasoning adopted by the court, and the wider implications for universities, international students, student groups, faculty, and institutional governance. The discussion will focus on how free speech rights apply to lawfully-present non-citizens in U.S. universities, how viewpoint discrimination and deportation/visa revocation practices can trigger First Amendment concerns, and what institutions can do to navigate these complexities.
For a primer on this topic, attendees can read over Professor Vile’s initial analysis written for MTSU’s Free Speech Center here.
SPEAKER
Dr. John R. Vile, Dean and Professor of Political Science of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University
Dr. John R. Vile is the Dean and Professor of Political Science of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. He is a scholar of the U.S. constitutional amending process and a prolific author, writing numerous books, essays, chapters and reviews on the constitution and related topics. He was one of the three original editors for the two-volume Encyclopedia of The First Amendment, published in 2009 and which is now part of The First Amendment Encyclopedia website at MTSU. He graduated from the College of William and Mary, earning his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia and attending seminars sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities at Princeton and the University of Iowa. He has served as Chair of the Department of Social Sciences at McNeese State University, as Chair of the Department of Political Science at MTSU, and (since 2008) Dean of the University Honors College. He received the MTSU Foundation Distinguished Research Award in 1993 and 1999 and the Career Achievement Award in 2011. The American Mock Trial Association awarded him the Congressman Neal Smith Award in 2000 for outstanding contributions to legal education and named him to the Coaches Hall of Fame in 2008. Dr. Vile is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi. He was designated a Phi Kappa Phi Scholar for 2020-2022.
1.0 General Credit (Accreditation Approved)
SWOD-26357
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