A federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by students in Iowa State University’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The lawsuit claims the university has improperly barred the pro-marijuana group from using ISU logos on T-shirts. Cy the Cardinal was on shirts members displayed in a photo in The Des Moines Register in 2012.

Judge James E. Gritzner ruled Tuesday that the complaint by NORML leaders Paul Gerlich and Erin Furleigh “alleges sufficient facts to support claims” for free speech violations.

The university had argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the case has to do with trademark protection issues and not constitutional violations and the students “failed to exhaust their administrative remedies.” The university also claimed its administrators have qualified immunity.

Gritzner said the administrators did not have qualified immunity because the students brought forward sufficient facts for a constitutional right violation. He also found the university’s claim that the students violated procedural due process was without merit.

Iowa State updated its trademark policy to prohibit any uses of the mascot’s image tied to “drugs and drug…