Chaffey’s ‘First Amendment’ Breakdown with Ryan L. Church
by Miranda Morgan
On Nov. 20, 2025, Ryan L. Church, Chaffey’s Chief Legal Officer, held a meeting via Zoom intended to educate Chaffey faculty and staff about how the First Amendment applies to Chaffey’s staff, faculty, students and campus.
Church’s presentation broke down what the First Amendment's free speech protections are and how they apply to Chaffey as a public college. He went into detail about how public colleges are able to create their own free-speech policies separate from the government. In addition, he went over how some colleges violate the rights of their students, and how Chaffey can avoid this. The presentation aimed to prevent the college from coming under any legal scrutiny regarding the first amendment.
The meeting began with a disclaimer by Church that each instance of first amendment violations are case-by-case, and not all the information provided in his presentation should be taken as indisputable. Constitutional topics are more than just black-and-white discussions.
“You have 9 Supreme Court justices that can't agree on this stuff, so… you know, imagine trying to teach a group of non-lawyers about First Amendment speech. It's incredibly complex,” stated Church.
Due to Chaffey’s categorization as a state actor, it is considered to be a government entity and therefore subject to the limitations of the first amendment. While there are broad federal and state policies regarding these protections, institutions themselves are still free to make their own policies so long as they do not violate the constitution. However, Church affirmed that this can still lead to some difficult situations, such as lengthy legal battles.
Church stated: “ The U.S. Supreme Court has referred to colleges as a marketplace of ideas. Free speech advocates often use this phrase to remind people that colleges should welcome differing opinions and encourage robust debate discussion on topics, even when the subject might be uncomfortable or controversial.” This is where the nuance of the policies begin.
Due to the varied nature of what can be said and protected under free speech laws, there are four ways that speech will often be suppressed — intentionally or not — that elicit legal response. These include viewpoint discrimination, content discrimination, prior restraint and location restrictions.
If a state actor restricts speech in a way that aligns with any of these categories, they can be held at fault by the government. If found guilty, they will face punishments ranging from fines to loss of accreditation or funding.
However, the state actors are still free to make their own policies that narrow down what can be protected and expressed on campus grounds. Chaffey itself has two policies associated with free speech, BP3900 and AP3900.
These policies are the “Time, Place, and Manner” policies. They dictate where, when, and how “expressive” activities can be held on campus. There are designated free speech locations around campus, such as the grassy area in front of the SSA building. This space was used earlier this year for a Charlie Kirk vigil.
While Chaffey is considered a marketplaces of ideas, Church's meeting goes to show that the marketplace comes with rules of its own, and everyone has to play the game fair.