University eases guidelines on chalk sidewalk messages

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania university has eased rules about messages written in chalk on sidewalks following protests from an anti-abortion group.

In March, a chapter of Students for Life of America used chalk to write anti-abortion messages at Berks County’s Kutztown University, but the messages were washed away two days in a row.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative non-profit legal organization, then accused the school of censorship, saying other groups were permitted to leave chalk messages.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/2rrBbyS ) reports that the university on Monday called it “a misunderstanding” and said chalking guidelines had been revised to “better reflect our support of free speech.”

The revised guidelines scrapped a section requiring messages to be “educational or informative in nature” and barring any that might interfere “with the process of the university.”

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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com