The original petition claimed OSU officials forced Cowboys for Life members to post warning signs around their displays but did not require other groups on campus, such as the Sexual Orientation Diversity Association, to do so when it hosted a "coming out of the closet" event at the same time. OSU restricted the group without merit because officials considered its displays overly graphic and offensive, ADF said.

In the settlement Friday, OSU agreed to amend its Student Code of Conduct, which now gives the school's Student Union Meeting and Conference Service office the ability to approve or deny space reservation requests on campus. The Campus Life office previously handled those requests, records show.

Will Creeley, director of Legal and Public Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit promoting free speech, First Amendment and religious liberty rights in higher education, said the decision was "a great victory for free speech rights" and said OSU was "lucky" the suit wasn't more costly.

"What they've done (in the new policies) is made it explicit that OSU cannot consider the viewpoint of the organization nor can they consider the content of the message the student organization wishes to convey," Creeley said. "The precedent has been clear for decades that students at public universities enjoy full First Amendment rights."