UA Organizations Team Up to Host First-Amendment Event

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama students will discover next week that there is such a thing as a free lunch — if they’re willing to give up their First-Amendment rights.

The Society of Professional Journalists, along with the UA Student Government Association, the Academic Honor Council and the “Corolla,” will sponsor the First Amendment Free Food Festival, which begins at 11:30 a.m. March 28 on the southwest corner of the Quad across from Reese Phifer Hall.

The first 500 students who sign a passport to enter the “Glorious Kingdom of Roll Tidelberg” will receive free barbecue sandwiches, chips and a drink. In exchange, they relinquish their rights to speech, religion, assembly, the press and to petition for a redress of grievances.

Inside the Kingdom, The Crimson White, The Tuscaloosa News and other independent news media will be banned. Talking may be prohibited. Students cannot assemble with their friends, pray before eating or complain to the government if the food supply runs out. A “goon squad” will enforce any laws the dictator fancies throughout the event. Would-be political protesters may be chased out of the area and religious leaders tossed into “jail.”

The First Amendment Free Food Festival, which has been held on more than 20 campuses nationwide since 2006, is designed to reinforce the importance of First-Amendment freedoms and to show the dangers of taking these rights for granted. It’s the first to be held on The University of Alabama campus.