The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that Ohio State expelled a student for engaging in protected political speech, which violated his First and 14th Amendment rights. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that Ohio State expelled a student for engaging in protected political speech, which violated his First and 14th Amendment rights.
Guy Christensen was a student at Ohio State who completed his first year as an undergraduate in April 2025. However, following posts on his personal social media accounts detailing his opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Ohio State unenrolled Christensen without a hearing, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint with the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division, Christensen denounced the U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres, D-New York, supporting Zionism and associations with pro-Israel political groups in an online video that reached over 1 million followers.
“Though undoubtedly offering passionate political views on contentious and fraught topics, Mr. Christensen’s videos contain no incitement to unlawful violence, nor do they contain any threats,” the complaint states.
The videos that Christensen posted did not mention Ohio State, according to the complaint.
Rep. Torres then accused Christensen of antisemitism and called for the U.S. Capitol Police to investigate him. Pro-Israel accounts online began to search for more information about Christensen, discovering his Ohio State affiliation and disclosing that to the public, according to the complaint.
“They suspended him shortly after his connection to OSU became known, barred him from campus, and ordered him to schedule a meeting with the Office of Student Conduct,” the complaint states. “Then, without waiting for his scheduled meeting, they summarily disenrolled him, claiming that he posed a risk of harm to university safety.”
University spokesperson, Ben Johnson, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said that the university is committed to protecting free speech and expression.
Christensen petitioned for re-enrollment, but university officials rejected his petition “expressly on the basis that he was attempting to contest the accusations against him” according to the complaint.
The ACLU of Ohio declares that Christensen’s speech was protected by the First Amendment and that the university denying him a hearing was a violation of his due process rights, according to the ACLU press release.
“Universities play a vital role in our democracy: fostering free thought and supporting the vigorous exchange of ideas,” David Carey, the managing legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, said in a press release. “That is never more important than when a student voices an unpopular opinion on a sensitive political subject — after all, uncontroversial ideas aren’t the ones that most need the First Amendment’s protection. Ohio State certainly doesn’t have to agree with Guy Christensen, but it must respect his right to engage in pure political expression.”
