Students at Fresno City College (FCC) distributed flyers, displayed artwork, and held banners near a campus water fountain today. All of these activities were done without the permission of the campus administration and therefore were in violation of FCC rules that regulate free speech. According to Sarah Reuter, one of the event organizers, the rules regulating free speech at FCC are arbitrary and sometimes based on the moral and religious beliefs of school administrators. Reuter said that a group was allowed to pass out bibles earlier this week, and yet an AIDS prevention group was refused permission to hand out condoms earlier this year. She said the administrator told them (the AIDS prevention group) that they objected to the condoms because they promote promiscuity and they (the administration) preferred the students to use abstinence.

Reuter and Cresencia Cruz are both members of the Free Speech Collective that want to change FCC’s rules. Cruz said their group is "seriously concerned with the free speech policy at FCC. Many of the rules and regulations as outlined for student organizations are unfair and at times unconstitutionally restrictive." Reuter said "there are four main regulations we have a serious problem with. One is the practice of approval stamps on campus. These are used to regulate free speech and to censor ideas. You need to get an approval stamp to put any kind of a flyer on the kiosks." Reuter said "the stamp is denied on the basis of content if the administration deems that the content is inappropriate for the campus"

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