VALDOSTA — The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has removed Valdosta State University from its Red Alert list as a result of the university’s recently revising its free speech zone policy.

VSU President Patrick J. Schloss recently announced the new policy in a letter to FIRE. Since November 2007, FIRE has submitted numerous complaints about the original Free Expression Area Police expressing the foundation’s disappointment with the university’s policies “impermissibly restricting free expression on campus.”

The original guidelines read: “Persons wishing to speak on campus may use the Free Expression Area (FEA) after following the appropriate reservation process. The designated site for the FEA at VSU is the stage on the Palms Quadrangle on main campus; only one person or group may utilize the area at a time. The hours of noon to 1 p.m. and/or 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. are the designated times for its use. First priority for the use of university facilities will be given to student, academic or administrative functions at the university. Community use of university facilities must have an educational or cultural purpose. To avoid conflicts in scheduling, reservations for the FEA should first be made through the Dean of Students Office …”

In a statement explaining the new policy, Schloss said, “We have rewritten the Free Expression Area Policy to reflect the wide ranging opportunities for free speech on the Valdosta campus. We have also been more accommodating to students who wish to hold a public forum outside of sponsored activities and advocates who are not a part of the campus community. The past policy was misconstrued to imply that there was only one area or venue on campus where free expression was permitted. The revised policy now titled ‘General Public Forum Venue’ more clearly defines the open culture that Valdosta State faculty and students value.”

In June, VSU was placed on FIRE’s Red Alert list, which is reserved for institutions that show “particularly severe and ongoing disregard for their contractual or constitutional commitments to uphold students’ fundamental rights.” In addition, FIRE teamed up with the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Student Press Law Center and several others in calling for VSU to “immediately end its unconstitutional free speech quarantine.”

VSU being placed on FIRE’s Red Alert list stems from the expelling of former student T. Hayden Barnes after Barnes posted a satirical collage on a page at Facebook.com. Barnes’ expulsion was later reversed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.