The Michigan Court of Claims on Sept. 18 ruled in favor of a University of Michigan student group fighting for the right to celebrate psychedelic plants and shrooms on campus.
“Although sympathetic to the university’s position, the court concludes that denying use of the Diag for ‘Entheofest 2025’ is not reasonable in light of the purposes of that limited public forum,” Chief Judge Brock Swartzle wrote in an opinion.
The Student Association for Psychedelic Studies, led by social work graduate student Emily Berriman, took the university to court in August after UM denied a permit for the fifth-annual edition of the event planned for Sunday, Sept. 21.
After Thursday’s court ruling, plans are back on to have the event on the Diag on Sunday, Berriman said.
“I’m excited,” she said. “We are grateful that the court made the right decision and that they were willing to hear us out for our vision for this event.”
Swartzle heard testimony from Entheofest organizers, as well as UM’s concerns about the event, during a nearly three-hour hearing at the Hall of Justice in Lansing on Wednesday.
“It was a long day, but we feel that justice was served,” Berriman said.
Organizers described the case as a constitutional battle for free speech on campus. University officials, who have not responded to request for comment on the ruling, have argued the event promotes illegal substances and attracts illegal sales activity.
Swartzle’s 14-page opinion granting the student group’s motion for preliminary injunction starts out by stating the First Amendment is not without irony.
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