Kansas University students have joined in the call for the Kansas Board of Regents to suspend a social media policy passed in December.

The KU Student Senate passed a resolution this week urging the regents to ax the policy while a regents-created work group reviews it and recommends revisions.

Garrett Farlow, a KU freshman in journalism, was one of the primary authors of the resolution, which states the social media policy “inhibits free speech of faculty and staff, depriving them of the academic and personal freedoms necessary to effectively educate students.”

Farlow said he was concerned that the policy could inhibit faculty members who engage with peers and students on social media. “Although the policy is directly targeted at faculty and professors, it obviously affects students,” he said.

The policy allows university heads to suspend and fire employees for social media posts that conflict with the best interest of the university or its ability to perform services, among other violations.

After passing the policy unanimously in December, the regents announced they would review it in response to widespread criticism that it was too broad and could restrain free speech.

The regents established a work group of faculty and staff from state universities to study the policy and make recommendations to the board by April. But faculty and staff groups have repeatedly asked the regents to suspend the policy until the work group makes its findings. Yesterday the regents pushed back against those calls.

Farlow said the issue hasn’t gotten much attention from students largely because they don’t follow media accounts as closely as faculty and staff. But Farlow is trying to make it an issue with students, starting with last night’s resolution.

“The more people that know about this, the more impact that we can have,” he said. “The First Amendment is very near and dear to my heart.”