A Christian student who sued Southern Illinois University, claiming the institution had repressed her conservative political views, will get an award of $80,000.
Maggie DeJong, who graduated from Southern Illinois University’s art therapy counseling program last year, claimed that the university punished her for speaking out about her conservative views when other students protested.
This week, the lawsuit against the institution was resolved for the sum of $80,000, according to DeJong’s legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom.
“Public universities can’t punish students for expressing their political and religious viewpoints. 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,” said attorney Mathew Hoffmann of Alliance Defending Freedom in a press release Wednesday.
“As a result of Maggie’s courage in filing suit, SIUE has agreed to take critical steps to comply with the law and the U.S. Constitution and move closer to accepting and embracing true diversity of thought and speech,” Hoffmann said.
Three professors will be required to complete First Amendment training as part of the settlement.
Southern Illinois University must also update its student handbook and rules by the settlement agreement to “ensure students with varying political, religious, and ideological views are welcome in the art therapy program.”
In her case, DeJong claimed that after other students complained about her conservative views, which they described as “harmful” and “harassment,” the school initiated an inquiry and issued three “no contact” orders against her.
DeJong was forbidden under the “no contact” orders from having “any contact” or even “indirect communication” with the three other graduate students who had raised concerns.
“Maggie wasn’t given a chance to defend herself. When they issued the orders, university officials didn’t even tell her what the allegations against her were, and they did not identify a single law, policy, or rule that she had violated. That’s because she hadn’t violated any,” her legal team wrote in an explanation of the case on Alliance Defending Freedom’s website last year.
DeJong claimed that in the past, she frequently stood up and provided her conservative viewpoint during class debates on contentious issues including racial tensions, religion, COVID, and censorship.
On her Instagram page, DeJong also shared her conservative viewpoints, which included her pro-life stance, support for Kyle Rittenhouse, and skepticism of Critical Race Theory.
“Justice and truth prevailed in the face of lies and deception from the mainstream media trying to twist the narrative,” DeJong wrote in one post after Rittenhouse was acquitted in 2021 of all charges, including murder, arising from his fatally shooting two men in 2020 during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“This gives hope to Americans. Praying protection over those jurors who have been threatened their lives,” DeJong wrote.
Southern Illinois University Chancellor James Minor acknowledged the settlement in a statement.
He added, however, that he hoped people would “see beyond the sensationalism of clickbait, media reports and headlines in search of a more complete understanding of the facts.”
“SIUE is unequivocally committed to protecting First Amendment rights and does not have policies that restrict free speech nor support censorship,” Minor said in a statement.
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Ok, this may sound off-topic but it really isn’t.
Who else is sick and tired of the woke agenda being shoved down our throats every day?
You know what makes it even worse is that we are funding it with our dollars.
Yep, and it stinks.
Every day we are fighting the culture war that is destroying our nation and when we go to the store we are funding it with our dollars.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way and I am so excited to find alternatives.
The only “catch”?
It’s Invite only.
Good thing you know someone that has the invites….(me!).
Yep! I would not make a suggestion if I wasn’t going to hook you up.
If you’d like to find out more and get a FREE personal invite, just go here and tell them SASSY sent you:
It’s the real deal for sure, and since it is invite only and does not run like other corrupt conglomerates they may have the SHUT OFF invites if they grow too fast.
We need to stop sending our dollars to the corporations that hate us and want to see us gone!
Remember the Georgia Guidestones?
They literally told us they wanted to reduce us from 8 billion people on Earth down to only 500 million.
No big deal, right?
Just an elimination of 94% of all people living right now.
And yet we continue to shop at their big stores and send them our money because until now we’ve had little choice.
Well, today that changes.
It’s time to “ditch and switch” and change where you send your dollars each month.
What if I told you instead of sending your money to Jeff Bezos and Costco and Walmart, you could shop at the LAST pro-America, freedom-loving, American designer, manufacturer, and shipper of all the stuff you buy each month?
Oh, and what if I told you the products are BETTER and often CHEAPER?
Yes, for real.
And what if I told you this is the best-kept secret you’ve never heard of before, but that this company has been doing this for the last 37 years?
And their founder was once placed on Barack Hussein Obama’s list of the Top 10 most “Dangerous Conservatives” in America?
(a list I one day hope to make myself!)
All of that is real and I’m so excited to tell you about it and I hope you’ll join the MISSION with me.
Here’s a quick summary of this company that I’m so excited to now be partnered up with on this mission:
Sound good to anyone else?
Me too!
I can get you in, but you can’t just go sign up.
They only want people on the same mission to join and they’re happy to say “no” to the Far-Left Libs!
They’ve been doing it for 37 years, and it works great.
Oh, and did I mention the products are non-toxic and don’t have all the chemicals and crap like Red Dye 40 that all the Big Corporations put in their products to weaken you?
To wear you down?
To make you — and your family — sick?
Because then when you get sick you’ll buy their drugs!
Sorry folks, I don’t play that game and neither does my family.
We’re talking about the LAST all-natural, grass-fed, no hormone, massive beef cattle ranch in the United States….
Sound good?
We’re talking Fluoride Free Toothpaste, chemical-free cleaners, and Deet-free mosquito repellant!
What novel concepts, right?
Stop sending your money to these 11 corporations that do NOT have your best interest at heart:
It’s an ILLUSION of choice.
There’s only one pro-American, American-made and manufactured, chemical-free, toxin-free, hormone-free, company left….and I’m teaming up with them to FIGHT BACK!
As I said, it’s Invite Only and the invite is entirely free!
In fact, I’ve assembled a team of patriots who will personally get you invited and signed up….if you want in.
Folks, we don’t have many strongholds left.
This is one.
And I’m all in.
If you’d like to find out more and get a FREE personal invite, just go here:
Tell them Sassy sent you and I promise you will get a personal call or text. If you want an email make sure you use one where one of the team members can get in touch with you.
Don’t freak out when you do.
And make sure you tell them you are interested in the Black Angus beef!
I know I tend to get concerned when I get messages from numbers I don’t recognize, but if you request a Free Invite (Link here: you WILL have someone from my Inner Circle reach out to you….so be ready!
These are awesome people and I think you’ll love getting a chance to talk with them.
And they’ll help get you all set up.
Who’s with me?
