The Fight for Free-Speech on Campus

                Free speech is a topic often fought over on college and university campuses. The fight ranges from students protesting on campus and ability to cover topics in student newspaper to professors’ rights to academic freedom.  Groups like the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) are fighting campuses that seem to have taken first amendment rights away from members of its community. This battle generally boils down to a question of when it is necessary to disrupt free speech or expression because of safety concerns. The line is often very thin and a little blurry.

                One professor felt that they were denied a promotion and a faculty award for supporting a student activist group (Schmidt, 2011). “The case is one of several in which the federal courts have grappled—and sometimes differed—on the question of how to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's 2006 ruling in Garcetti v. Ceballos, which held that public agencies can discipline their employees for any statements made in connection with their jobs” (Schmidt, 2011). Most cases with professors and free speech bring up concerns about academic freedom. This case, however, seems to be second handedly discouraging student activists from speaking out. The question is was it truly related to her job? The courts argued that since she was the advisor for the Socialist Club that her speech and involvement in protest against university policies were related to her job.

                The FIRE organization continuously supports cases to protect first amendment rights in education. “These rights include freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience — the essential qualities of individual liberty and dignity. FIRE's core mission is to protect the unprotected and to educate the public and communities of concerned Americans about the threats to these rights on our campuses and about the means to preserve them” (FIRE). Some of the recent cases they support range from a student at DePaul University publishing the name of the students that vandalized his pro-life project to the University of Memphis cutting its student newspaper budget. The case at DePaul is one that many student affairs professionals can see the blurry line of free speech and safety come into play. The student’s rights had most definitely been threatened by students that disrupted his project. The question is if he had the right to publicly call out the students that wronged him. Was he placing them in danger?

                “Could a speaker conceivably utter words so hurtful and so malicious that college officials could justifiably prohibit those words or punish the speaker for uttering them? Unless and until the Supreme Court changes the law, the answer pretty clearly will be no” (White, 2010). This quote seems to sum up the argument that FIRE is making on behalf of the DePaul student. While it might seem wrong, that student had the right to publicly announce the other students. He is protected by the first amendment. As student affairs professionals this can be a tough pill to swallow as we try to protect and help our students develop.

Resources:

               

www.thefire.org

Schmidt, P. (2011). U.S. Appeals Court to Weigh the Speech Rights of Public-College Faculty Members. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

White, L. (2010). Free-Speech Ruling’s Impact on Colleges. The Chronicle of Higher Education.