“The Contested Expression:” College Republicans File Federal Lawsuit Against Donald Landry
The University of Florida (UF) College Republicans (UFCR) has filed a federal lawsuit against UF Interim President Donald Landry over the disbandment of the campus group, alleging the move violates the First Amendment. UFCR is represented by attorney and Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini. The group was disbanded after a photo went viral of an alleged member doing a Nazi salute with another individual.
On Monday, UFCR submitted a request for injunctive relief, seeking monetary relief for damages, a declaration that UF’s decision was unconstitutional, and full reinstatement of the chapter.
“UF sought to justify its unlawful decision by providing a false pretext as a basis,” states the lawsuit, “asserting that it had acted at the behest of a third-party group, the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR), a group with no authority over or affiliation with UFCR.”
The lawsuit states that in 2025, “a member of UFCR expressed a viewpoint off-campus that was alleged by some to be anti-Semitic.”
While not overtly called a Nazi salute in the lawsuit, the gesture is referred to as “the contested expression.”
According to the lawsuit, “The Contested Expression occurred in a context involving matters of public concern, including political speech and current events, and did not constitute a true threat, incitement, or otherwise unprotected speech.”
The lawsuit describes how UF deactivated UFCR on March 13 after getting pushback over “the contested expression.” The decision removed UFCR’s access to "recognition-based benefits, including funding eligibility, facility reservations, communications platforms, and the ability to host on-campus events.”
The lawsuit alleges that UF’s basis for deactivation wasn’t because of “the contested expression” in itself, but because of the pushback the university received over it.
The lawsuit alleges that UF has no basis in policy, rules or law or deactivate UFCR. The lawsuit states, "UF did not provide UFCR with adequate notice, a meaningful opportunity to be heard, or neutral, consistently applied standards prior to Deactivation."
“UF has allowed other student organizations to remain recognized notwithstanding controversial or offensive speech by their members, evidencing viewpoint discrimination and selective enforcement,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that UFCR has been unable to organize on campus and that planned events have been “canceled, curtailed, or chilled” due to the deactivation and “threat of further punitive measures for protected expression.”
The lawsuit alleges that Florida governor candidate James Fishback’s town hall with UFCR on March 11 likely had a role in UF’s decision. The lawsuit implies UF deactivated the chapter because Fishback is critical of Israel and the event was attended by over 500 students.
A summons has been issued for Landry.
On Tuesday, Judge Mark Waller told UFCR that they need to file a motion before their request for an injunction will be considered.
Update | March 18: Soon after Waller's notice, UFCR submitted a motion that contains largely the same allegations as the prior injunction request, but is far more lengthy.
The motion provides a description of UFCR as an organization, which states:
"Plaintiff UFCR is a recognized student political organization at the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Its purpose is to promote and advocate for conservative political ideas and candidates, host speakers, and engage in campus dialogue and debate on matters of public concern. UFCR is the largest college republican group in the nation. Unlike other college republican groups, UFCR is characterized by providing a forum to figures of the 'New Right' and the hard-right, America-First wing of the GOP, such as James Fishback, Elijah Shaffer, Kai Schwemmer, and others, many critical of the State of Israel and its American lobby."
According to the motion, "UFCR, after diligent research, has no knowledge of any other student organization with an alleged affiliated with a national organization be deactivated by UF. Only UFCR was dealt with in this way, because UF was singling them out."
