Some colleges are attempting to restrict certain freedomsprotected under the First Amendment.
Gerald Reynolds, head of the U.S. Department ofEducation’s Office for Civil Rights, distributed a letter inJuly to colleges and universities across the nation, addressing,”a subject … of central importance to our government,our heritage of freedom and our way of life: the FirstAmendment.”
Though Reynold’s office cannot bring lawsuits to enforcethe First Amendment, his letter confronts hundreds of institutes ofhigher education that have policies that restricting speech anddiscouraging intellectual exchange.
“Speech codes” are unclear rules that target speechthat may be offensive to certain people or groups..
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education reports anattempt last spring by students at Ithaca College in New York toget police to stop a speech sponsored by the CollegeRepublicans.
The speaker was political activist Angela Bay Buchanan and thetopic was “the failures of feminism.” The protestersclaimed Buchanan’s speech was a “bias-relatedincident.”
The event was not censored, but the school’s”Bias-Related Incidents Committee” is looking into thematter of creating policies to prohibit similar speeches in thefuture.
Norman Wick, president of SMU’s Faculty Senate, said heisn’t aware of such policies at SMU.
“Hate speech is not allowed,” he said. “Butstudents have the right to express a wide range of social andeconomic viewpoints.”
Hate speech is defined as bigoted speech attacking ordisparaging a social or ethnic group or a member of such a group,and it’s not protected by the U.S. Constitution. Wick saidthat SMU does not have a bias-related incidents committee.
Richard Mason, director of the Maguire Center for Ethics andPublic Responsibility said that SMU encourages students to speakout.
“The heart of the university is intellectual inquiry andfree speech,” he said. “As long as [speakers] areresponsible for their point of view, they should be free tospeak.”
Mason said that important issues are essential to makingassignments help students develop a sense of quality reasoning. Theposition that students take is up to them.
Regarding SMU, “Student organizations, faculty members andadministration need to determine appropriateness of certainspeeches and events,” Wick said.
If students are bothered by certain speech, he says they canexpress concern to the University and the matter would be exploredfurther.
