The term “free speech zone” can be misleading. While the name implies a policy that promotes free expression, free speech zones do the opposite. They confine political demonstrations to a small, often secluded, area on campus and typically require students to get advance permission to demonstrate. In Oregon, a pro-life group, Students for Life, filed … Continue reading “Did You Know? The Decline of Free Speech Zones”
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from The Not-So-Great Society, published by the Heritage Foundation. Who cares that 20 students at the University of Wisconsin staged a protest in October 2017? Just months earlier, violence broke out at the University of California, Berkeley, after the invitation of a controversial speaker to campus. In March, a … Continue reading “Conserve Free Speech on Campus”
Located just north of Atlanta, Kennesaw State University is a school enrolling some 35,000 students. Arguably, the most noteworthy thing about it is the fact that its officials keep making decisions that land it in court. In February, the university’s “speech zone” policy came under attack. A student group, Ratio Christi, wanted to put up … Continue reading “Why Can’t This Public University Stay Out of Court?”
Student intolerance and opposition to free speech have been gaining momentum. What began as isolated incidents at the University of Missouri and Yale University in fall 2015 quickly spread to other universities, leading to individuals being targeted for simply expressing their opinions. Recent rioting that prevented a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley, and … Continue reading “NC Joins Growing List of States Seeking to Protect Campus Free Speech”
(Editor’s note: This article first appeared on Forbes.com.) Hostility to free speech has become a salient characteristic of American college campuses. Speech codes that make it dangerous for students (or anyone else) to say things that might be regarded as offensive or “harassing” are all too common—even though the codes have been found to violate … Continue reading “Shouldn’t an Entire Campus Be a Free Speech Zone—Not Just .02 Percent of It?”
Last month, PEN America, the U.S. branch of an international organization, published a strong defense of free speech on college campuses. The nearly century-old group stands for the idea that “People everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to make it possible for everyone to … Continue reading “Will the Surge of Support for Free Speech on Campus Do Any Good?”