Ceremonial Bill Signing Held for Senator Seifried’s Campus Free Speech Bill

Senator Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, poses for a photo with representatives of Americans for Prosperity-Oklahoma, who supported her campus free speech bill that was signed into law during a ceremonial signing ceremony on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in the Blue Room of the state Capitol.

OKLAHOMA CITY – A ceremonial bill signing held at the state Capitol on Tuesday included Senate Bill 1725, from Sen. Ally Seifried, which protects First Amendment rights on public college and university campuses.

“Part of the college experience is being exposed to new ideas, openly discussing difficult topics and hearing unique perspectives that challenge your thoughts and beliefs,” Seifried said. “That’s how students grow and develop the critical thinking skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. My own college experience played a major role in shaping who I am and how I think through complex issues, and I want every Oklahoma college student to have those same opportunities to be challenged and learn to think for themselves.” 

SB 1725 prevents public colleges and universities from punishing students for their free speech unless their behavior meets the state’s legal definition of harassment, which is narrowly tailored under state law as behavior that is so unwelcome, severe and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a student equal access to educational opportunities.

It also directs the Oklahoma Free Speech Committee to develop free-speech training for all first-year college students that addresses what is protected by the First Amendment. Such training is already required for college deans, department heads and faculty involved in setting free speech policies or handling free speech complaints.

The measure also allows higher education institutions to charge security fees for events, but those fees must be based on criteria that is content- and viewpoint-neutral. In other words, they cannot be based on a speaker’s views, the content of an event or the anticipated response from the student body. Fees may only be based on factors such as the time, location or expected crowd size, and colleges must publish their fee criteria online.

“I’m grateful to my colleagues for their overwhelming support and appreciate the governor signing this legislation that reinforces the importance of free speech on college campuses and protects students and invited speakers from being censored,” Seifried said.

SB 1725 takes effect July 1.