Dive Brief:

• Republican lawmakers in Tennessee who had been sparring with the state's flagship university are dropping their legislative efforts to restrict the school’s “Sex Week.”
• The sponsors of the bills, which would have restricted funding for outside speakers at state universities, said they were pulling back because the University of Tennessee president had agreed to re-assess how the school uses student fees.
• Sex Week, a student-organized sex education event held at the university earlier this month, has been condemned by conservative legislators and defended by its supporters on First Amendment free speech grounds.

Dive Insight:

The university’s president, Joseph DiPietro, sent a letter to state legislative leaders showing the school’s willingness to cooperate with them regarding Sex Week. DiPietro said he will immediately begin to develop policy changes in response to a state Senate resolution condemning Sex Week, as long as the changes comply with the First Amendment. That will include pursuing a student fee system that will allow students to opt out of paying for programs that they object to.