Mary Beth Tinker, who won a First Amendment case in the US Supreme Court, spoke at the UO School of Journalism and Communication Thursday afternoon.

Tinker has been traveling around the country speaking to young people about their rights.

“Students love the message, that, yes, the First Amendment is for you too,” Tinker said.

In 1969, after a four-year U.S. Supreme Court case, Tinker won a landmark case that is still referenced as legal precedent today. In December 1965, the 13-year-old junior high school student was suspended for wearing a black armband in protest of the Vietnam War, along with a handful of other students and pursued the case. The court held that the First Amendment rights extended into the public school territory, allowing for a broader freedom of expression for students.

Until the day she decided to wear an armband to school in protest, Tinker said she was very shy. Her father, a preacher who spoke up about a segregated swimming pool, was socially ostracized as a result. He eventually played an important role in encouraging her to take action about her feelings on the war.

There have been three other main cases that followed Tinker revolving around a students and their right to free speech. Still, Tinker believes students are limited in their freedoms.

“There’s so many ways that the rights of students have been cut back,” Tinker said.