Ruth Malhotra of Campus Watch Receives American Conservative Union's Highest Award

March 13, 2009

http://www.meforum.org/2099/ruth-malhotra-campus-watch-american-conservative-union

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PHILADELPHIA — The Middle East Forum is proud to announce
that Ruth Malhotra, Campus Watch Research Assistant at the Middle East
Forum, is the 2009 co-recipient of the Ronald Reagan Award from the
American Conservative Union, the highest award given by the ACU.

The award honors a conservative activist who best
exemplifies the Reagan spirit of outstanding achievement and selfless
contributions to the advancement of liberty. Presented on February 27,
2009 at the 36^th annual Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC), it includes a $10,000 cash stipend.

Malhotra and her co-recipient Orit Sklar were honored for
their efforts to advance academic freedom in higher education, and
specifically for their work at the Georgia Institute of Technology
fighting for free speech and religious liberty.

During her time at Georgia Tech, from which she earned her
B.A. and M.A., Malhotra faced a pattern of censorship by the Institute as
speech codes and other unconstitutional policies were used repeatedly
against her and her organizations. In 2006, Malhotra and Sklar filed a
federal civil rights lawsuit against Georgia Tech to challenge
unconstitutional policies that supported censorship and the suppression of
students' rights. In a series of precedent-setting victories, their case
prompted Georgia Tech to repeal its speech code, alter its
unconstitutional "speech zone," and eliminate the unconstitutional portion
of its "Safe Space" program.

Commenting on the award, Ruth Malhotra said, "It was our
love of liberty and our love for Georgia Tech that compelled us to take
this stand, so that every student's rights to free speech and religious
liberty would be protected. The problems in academia are vast, and we've
made some progress in confronting these challenges. But there is still
much work to be done."

Middle East Forum director Daniel Pipes added, "Ruth is an
extraordinary person who continues the fight for academic freedom she
began as a student through her work at Campus Watch. We are extremely
proud of her for winning this prestigious award and for the work she does
each day to combat the politicization of higher education."

Immediate release

For more information, contact Amy Shargel at

215-546-5406, ex. 22
Shargel@MEForum.org

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