University Targets Christian Student, Pays the Price When She Takes It to Court

Officials at a college in Illinois are facing the consequences after a Christian student sued them for violating her First Amendment rights.

In February 2022, Maggie DeJong, a grad student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, was hit with no-contact orders from the university barring her from communicating with three students who had complained about her expressing her conservative Christian beliefs.

While the orders were rescinded after SIUE received a letter from DeJong’s attorney, they were later reinstated. As a result, DeJong took the university to court with the help of the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.

Now, ADF is reporting victory for DeJong, and SIUE is being forced to pay up for violating her right to free speech.

As part of the settlement reached between the parties, ADF attorneys will be conducting a “First Amendment training session” with three SIUE professors, according to an ADF news release.

University officials also agreed to revise their policies to allow for freedom of expression in the art therapy program, which DeJong was a part of, and to pay her $80,000.

ADF legal counsel Matthew Hoffman celebrated the ruling in a statement.

“Public universities can’t punish students for expressing their political and religious viewpoints,” he said.

“Maggie, like every other student, is protected under the First Amendment to respectfully share her personal beliefs, and university officials were wrong to issue gag orders and silence her speech.