Free Speech on Campus
As if college campuses didn't have too many speech restrictions already, the election season has brought more. Campus administrators have gotten the bizarre idea that they should cancel already scheduled speeches by controversial people like Michael Moore because it's an election year. This stands normal constitutional reasoning on its head. Even Robert Bork believes that political speech enjoys First Amendment protection. But apparently, a lot of university administrators are, shall we say, ill-educated in the law (not to mention opposed academic freedom).
In this context, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), on whose board I serve has issued a useful statement reminding students and administrators of the principles involved.
In recent weeks, FIRE has seen a sharp increase in the number of inquiries regarding so-called "partisan" speech on campus. These inquiries have corresponded with reports of speakers being "un-invited" because college and university administrations feared that their speech would be "too partisan." For example, FIRE has received reports that the president of Florida Gulf Coast University cancelled a planned speech by Professor Terry Tempest Williams, fearing that Williams would be critical of President Bush's environmental policies. Similarly, California State University at San Marcos recently canceled a university-sponsored appearance by Michael Moore on the grounds that his speech would be "too partisan." FIRE has also received multiple requests from students asking us to intervene to prevent the use of student activity fee funds for politically-themed speeches.
It is deeply distressing and unfortunate that universities (and even students) are attempting to stifle political speech in the weeks before a Presidential election. If the First Amendment means anything at all, it means that speech must be free to influence the political process in this country. The founders of our nation considered the Bill of Rights essential because they recognized that true democracy would be impossible if one were not free to advocate political positions, whether they be mainstream, revolutionary, conservative, or anywhere else on the ideological spectrum. It is hardly an argument that speech should be censored because it might be used to change a person's point of view so close to an upcoming election. Speech often serves its greatest societal function when it is used to change minds through reasoned debate and discussion. The concern of college administrators should not be the maintenance of an artificially-imposed "balance" but instead the protection of open discussion, expression, and candor.
While various state and federal laws prevent public and private university officials from explicitly campaigning for or against candidates on university time or through the use of university resources, not all speech regarding a political candidate is considered unacceptable "partisan" campaigning. The U.S. Constitution puts profound limits on the ability of public university administrators to suppress student-sponsored speech, even if that speech explicitly and purposefully endorses a political candidate.
Read the rest here.
FIRE does great work, and deserves your tax-deductible financial support. You can donate here (or find out how to do so offline). And each dollar you donate to FIRE's defense of free speech on campus will be matched one-for-one by the John Templeton Foundation, which has pledged a challenge grant of $100,000. Don't miss this great end-of-the-year philanthropic opportunity.