St. Cloud State Grad Sues to Stop Mandatory Student Fee That Supports Liberal Activist Group

St. Cloud State Grad Sues to Stop Mandatory Student Fee That Supports Liberal Activist Group

This should become a national movement. Student fees are used in this way at schools across the country every single year.

The College Fix reports:

College grad sues to stop mandatory student fee that supports liberal activist group

St. Cloud State University and Students United are facing a lawsuit over a mandatory fee, which the plaintiff argues violates her First Amendment rights.

The federal lawsuit, brought by the Liberty Justice Center and the Upper Midwest Law Center on behalf of Tayah Lackie, argues that this mandatory fee to support Students United’s political activism violates Lackie and other students’ First Amendment Rights.

The state filed a motion to dismiss on Monday.

Lackie only found out that she was funding this political speech after she graduated. She opposes initiatives like “FCK Student Debt” given that she “paid [her] own way without taking on debt.”

The lawsuit says Students United is “a private corporation created for the purpose of engaging in political speech, which advocates for and takes positions on controversial policies and legislation, and which purports to speak on all students’ behalf.”

Attorneys for Lackey believe that this collection of fees is a form of compelled speech and therefore violates the First Amendment rights of students.

Jacob Huebert, president of the Liberty Justice Center, told The Fix via email “a victory in this case would establish that state colleges and universities cannot force students to pay fees to an activist group just to be allowed to attend.”

The current fee is “80 cents per credit,” according to Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit.

But Lackie said she received minimal information that the university was charging her to fund the group. It was only in 2024 that she saw the charges on her “account statement” that showed fees deducted. “Apart from those account statements, neither St. Cloud State nor Students United informed Ms. Lackie that she was required to pay fees to Students United,” the lawsuit alleges.

The money goes to the Minnesota State University Student Association, also called Students United, for lobbying activities. This includes pushing for a taxpayer bailout of student loans.

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