Rhode Island College stumbled today in its defense against a free-speech lawsuit when its governing board directly contradicted its claim that it is not a public college. According to the Associated Press, an official at the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education said today that the college is a public institution and, as such, is bound to protect free speech, as provided in the First Amendment.

In its initial defense against the lawsuit, a college lawyer had asserted that the college is not a government agency and therefore does not need to uphold the First Amendment. The case stemmed from an incident in 2005 in which the college removed abortion-rights signs that students had posted on the campus.

So it’s back to the drawing board for college lawyers. A college spokeswoman told the AP that they would “provide more details in a new filing at a later date.”