Free Speech on Campus: It Happened Again, at William and Mary!

College of William and Mary (William Harpine)

This makes me very sad. A group of protestors, who identified themselves with Black Lives Matter, protested a speech by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)'s Claire Guthrie Gastañaga at my alma mater, The College of William and Mary in Virginia. The protestors were upset because the ACLU had defended the free speech rights of extreme right-wing groups like the KKK and the Nazi Party. The ACLU has, of course, long defended all free speech rights. Reports said that the protests were so loud that the speaker was not only unable to make her presentation, but unable even to converse with students one-on-one. Apparently the protestors will face a disciplinary board. As they should.

When I studied at William and Mary (1969-1973), the school's very conservative administration routinely brought in controversial speakers who represented many perspectives. I heard from Julian Bond, Alan Ginsburg (who, to my disappointment, did not speak, but merely meditated loudly while playing the zither), and numerous anti-Vietnam War speakers. The college believed, and I agree, that students needed to hear different points of view.

Comments:

1. If you disagree with a speaker, listen first. Maybe a controversial speaker will persuade you. Maybe you will learn something.

2. If you still disagree, the answer is to give a better speech in response.

3. If you want to protest a speaker, do so in a way that does not obstruct the presentation. 

4. If you don't want to hear the speaker at all, then go to the movies instead. 

There have been cases of liberal and conservative speakers alike being obstructed on college campuses by people who disagree. This is wrong; it is un-American, and it needs to stop.

Free speech rights in general are under attack. I disagree with the NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem, but support their right to do so against the President's threats. It's free expression! Let them express themselves! I object to the Trump administration's recent threats to investigate or intimidate news agencies that fail to flatter them. That is very wrong.

Thomas Jefferson

Let's finish by quoting William and Mary alumnus Thomas Jefferson, who, in his First Inaugural Address, explained why even radical and dangerous opinions can be tolerated:

"If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."

Free speech is our nation's founding principle.


Note: Ambitious readers might look at an excellent journal, First Amendment Studies. Articles are behind a paywall, but many libraries can provide access for their patrons.  

P.S. Also see my earlier posts about free speech on campus.