[Court] said McGlone’s desire to share his beliefs is protected First Amendment activity and the open areas of Tennessee Tech’s campus are public forums. When deciding to allow people on campus, the policies must not grant overly broad licensing discretion to government officials…[and] the two-week notice period is unreasonable, far longer than other timeframes upheld by federal courts.

All John McGlone wanted to do was share his Christian beliefs with students at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville.

One on one.

Instead, he was asked to leave campus by police simply because he didn’t give the university notice two weeks ahead of time, and he didn’t disclose what he wanted to talk about.

Now McGlone has won a case before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled Tennessee Tech’s policy was unreasonable and violated the First Amendment.

The decision could have implications for public colleges and universities throughout the region as officials balance public access with the need to keep students safe.

In light of the decision, public colleges and universities throughout the state would be wise to review their policies, said Gene Policinski, executive director of the Nashville-based First Amendment Center.

People have a right to speak on public property, and the government can intrude only in the narrowest of ways, he said.

“Anytime government asks us in advance to specify the kind of speech we are engaged in, that raises a warning flag for the courts,” Policinski said. “Government ought not to be in the business of saying, ‘You can’t say that.’ ”

Karen Lykins, Tennessee Tech’s associate vice president for communications, said the university could not comment on the case since it was sent back to the trial court. McGlone’s lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages. Attorneys for the Tennessee Board of Regents are reviewing the federal appeals court decision, she said.

The Tennessee Board of Regents — which oversees 46 institutions including Tennessee Tech — has adopted an updated campus-use policy that takes effect June 1. The policy reduces the notice period to five days, but a spokeswoman said it was in the works long before the appeals court ruling.

For McGlone, he hasn’t been back to Tennessee Tech since he was there three years ago. He fears arrest, according to court documents.

He filed the lawsuit because he believes university officials used their open-ended discretion to discriminate against his particular message.

All he wanted to do, according to court records, was tell students about the “hope that he believes Jesus Christ offers for humanity.”

McGlone could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Nate Kellum, said he would not make the Breeding, Ky., resident available for an interview because of the ongoing lawsuit.

McGlone travels to universities in the southeastern region and along the Atlantic coast, said Kellum, a Memphis-based attorney and senior counsel the Center for Religious Expression.

“He wants to share a message regarding his faith,” Kellum said.

Read More [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]