A federal appeals court ruled Thursday, Aug. 27, that Portland State University may have violated the First Amendment when it suspended a student who sent a vulgar email opposing the school's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that Cal Jamison McCollough, now 44 and living in Eugene, plausibly showed PSU and Provost Susan Jeffords retaliated against him for constitutionally protected speech. The three-judge panel reversed a lower court's dismissal and sent the case back for further proceedings.

McCollough emailed PSU administrators on Oct. 7, 2021, requesting a vaccine waiver. According to Hoodline, which first reported the ruling, his message told administrators to "suck his dick" and called the vaccine the "mark of the beast," claiming his objection was rooted in religious belief.

PSU said the email disrupted work at the student health and counseling center and notified McCollough on Oct. 11, 2021, to appear at a disciplinary hearing over Zoom that same day. \

He submitted a written statement instead of attending. On Oct. 19, 2021, PSU ordered him to write a two-page essay on making good choices and blocked his class registration.

He refused.

The standoff led to his suspension and eventual expulsion.

The appeals panel, consisting of Circuit Judges Jacqueline Nguyen, John B. Owens and Kenneth Kiyul Lee, ruled that crass political speech may merit First Amendment protection. The court concluded that disciplining McCollough for his anti-vaccine views would not be viewpoint-neutral and rejected PSU's claim that his email disrupted employees' work.

The ruling was not a complete win for McCollough. The panel affirmed the dismissal of his Fourteenth Amendment due process claim.

PSU attorney Erin M. Burris argued "there was no clearly established right to use vulgar language toward a PSU administrator." The university declined to comment on the pending litigation. In a separate statement, spokesperson Katy Swordfisk said "vigorous debate is valued and protected at Portland State."

McCollough, who represented himself throughout the case, said he should not have had to go through the process at all. He is not currently employed or enrolled in school and told reporters his food stamps recently ran out.

The case returns to U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon's court, where PSU must argue whether it qualifies for sovereign immunity as an arm of the state. The ruling arrives as PSU grapples with a 24% enrollment decline since fall 2019 and a $35 million budget shortfall that prompted 36 layoffs and the elimination of two academic departments in July 2026, according to Willamette Week.

No hearing date has been set for the remand proceedings.