Megan Reed, Campus Carrier News Editor

Berry has settled its legal dispute with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) and will continue to have billboards in Tennessee.

THEC had asked Berry to pay a fee to advertise in Tennessee and claimed that Berry’s billboards in the Nashville area counted as educational activity in the state. THEC does not ask Tennessee private colleges to pay this fee. Berry sued THEC in May and alleged discriminatory treatment and a violation of its commercial free speech rights.

The billboard involved in the dispute depicted two Berry students near the Ford Buildings with the words “26,000 Acres of Opportunity.”

Berry does not have a campus in Tennessee nor offer classes in the state, although over 200 of Berry’s 2,100 students are from Tennessee. The college has advertised with billboards in Chattanooga since 2009 and in Nashville since 2010.

“We felt that we have students who come from Tennessee, and we can offer a great educational experience for students in Tennessee, and it was just not a fair determination,” Chris Reinolds Kozelle, Berry’s director of news and editorial services, said.

U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy of the Northern District of Georgia dismissed Berry’s lawsuit in June and said that the suit should be handled in a federal court in Tennessee. Berry and THEC then reached a settlement out of court.

The settlement provides a waiver of THEC rules for advertising and solicitation.

Berry College President Stephen R. Briggs said he was satisfied with the settlement.

“We are very pleased that the settlement agreement provides exactly the resolution we were looking for,” Briggs said in an Oct. 28 news release. “It is important that high school students and their families have open access to the information they need to make informed college decisions, and that colleges compete on a level playing field in the market.”