If you’ve been keeping up with the media, either mainstream or alternative, you’ll notice that free speech has become a concern on many college campuses.
As we all know, the right to freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, along with freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, freedom of religion and the freedom to petition the government for redress of grievance. Notice how I said “protected” and not “given” by the First Amendment.
Just like anywhere else in the U.S., free speech should absolutely be cherished on college campuses, especially since colleges and universities are meant to be marketplaces of ideas.
But is free speech as embattled on college campuses as some would make it out to be?
I’ve been a student at UTM since 2017, and I have never had an issue or heard of an issue about free speech coming from my university.
So I scratch my head when I hear stories about free speech being under attack at other universities.
Normally, what I see in the news about schools who do have free speech issues comes from the arrival of a speaker and an ensuing protest.
A high profile speaker will come in, who typically holds controversial political beliefs, and some students will protest and disrupt the speaker. Sometimes, the protesters even end the event altogether.
In March of 2017, a talk given by Charles Murray, author of a controversial book in the social sciences called The Bell Curve, at Middleburry College was cut short by a violent reaction from protestors that left one professor severely injured.
Earlier in the same year, a planned event at UC Berkeley by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopolis led to rioting that effectually shuttered the event.
Since the fevered days of the campus speech wars in 2017, the modus operandi of colleges has generally been to keep controversial speakers off the docket when such problems are anticipated.
Exemplifying this trend, Gonzaga University preemptively disinvited Ben Shapiro from a scheduled talk in late 2018, ostensibly to “support their school’s Christian mission” but likely also to avoid the mistakes of Middleburry and Berkeley.
I’m definitely not a fan of this tactic. College, at least in my mind, is meant to be a battleground of ideas.
Debating certain viewpoints and destroying bad arguments with better ones helps make society more intelligent as a whole.
While I’m aware that the First Amendment doesn’t guarantee a platform to voice opinions, the forceful disruption of speakers on college campuses strikes me as a free speech problem.
Honestly, it surprises me that a lot of times it’s typically students who are causing free speech problems on campuses, but I’m sure there are times when administrations cause issues as well.
While I see disruptive protests as a free speech problem, I don’t condone banning them as long as they aren’t disrupting the daily functions of others or causing physical harm to others. As mentioned earlier, the First Amendment protects the right to assemble.
There are resources out there for those who feel as if their civil liberties are under attack on college campuses.
FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) deals specifically with civil liberties violations on college campuses.
The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is also a great resource.
While I have not had any of my civil rights violated during my college career, I’m aware that free speech issues exist at other colleges and they are serious issues. Colleges and universities are supposed to foster ideas and knowledge.
Thankfully for us, our Constitution exists to preserve our rights.
