NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Kennesaw, GA, February 13, 2026: Civil rights organizations are calling on Kennesaw State University (KSU) to drop disciplinary charges against students who organized campus walkouts protesting actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arguing the university’s response violates the First Amendment.
In a letter sent February 12 to KSU’s legal affairs staff, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta and the National Lawyers Guild Southern Region urged administrators to “terminate the disciplinary proceedings” initiated against student organizers who gathered on the Campus Green on multiple days in January.
The groups contend that the students were engaging in constitutionally protected speech on matters of public concern when they protested what they described as “terror and violence” inflicted by ICE agents nationwide.
“Student protests condemning state violence should not be punished, they should be celebrated,” the letter states. “The vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools.”
Statewide Walkouts
According to the advocacy groups, over a two-week period in January 2026, more than 10,000 students at over 150 high schools and universities across Georgia participated in classroom walkouts protesting ICE enforcement actions. KSU students were among those who gathered on campus to voice opposition.
Rather than “celebrating KSU students’ commitment to standing up for immigrants’ rights or respecting their right to exercise their First Amendment rights,” the groups said the university charged student organizers with violating the student code of conduct.
The letter argues that speech addressing immigration enforcement and alleged abuses by federal agents is at the core of what the First Amendment protects. Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, including Snyder v. Phelps and Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the groups wrote that speech on public issues “occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values.”
Dispute Over Chalking and Conduct
KSU has alleged that student organizers used chalk on campus sidewalks to spread their message, according to the letter. The advocacy groups argue that chalking is a form of expression that does not materially or substantially disrupt school activities and therefore falls within protected speech.
They also objected to what they described as content-based restrictions, claiming that the university has a history of erasing chalk messages on campus sidewalks depending on the viewpoint expressed — a practice they say runs afoul of the First Amendment.
Additionally, the letter disputes efforts to hold protest organizers responsible for the actions of other attendees. It references allegations that some students climbed or sat on a KSU campus sign during the demonstration. Citing Supreme Court precedent, the groups argue that protest leaders cannot be held liable for the conduct of others absent direct involvement and that sitting on a campus sign does not constitute a material disruption under the legal standard set forth in Tinker.
Broader Immigration Debate
The letter situates the protests within a broader national debate over immigration enforcement, describing reports of federal agents conducting arrests at homes, workplaces, and places of worship. It references news accounts alleging unsafe or unsanitary conditions in detention facilities and other incidents involving federal enforcement.
“Speech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self-government,” the letter states, quoting Garrison v. Louisiana. “KSU must stop chilling students from engaging in First Amendment-protected expression and drop the charges.”
The signatories include Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Atlanta and the National Lawyers Guild Southern Region Steering Committee.
Cover photo credit: HookTV.
