Abstract
US universities are increasingly intolerant of students and have created small free speech zones.
Two students – members of political organisation Young Americans for Liberty – have since filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming they were stopped from distributing handouts during a January event to introduce students to university groups and told they should only do so in a “free-speech zone”. “This isn’t the 60s anymore,” they were allegedly told – a reminder that many such zones were set up as a result of protests over the Vietnam war.
Having specific areas (some of which are marked by lines on the ground and in tucked-away locations) where you can remind people of the First Amendment sounds like a paradox, and many students are questioning their universities on the issue. Earlier this year Robert Van Tuinen received a $50,000 payout after filing a lawsuit against California’s Modesto Junior College for stopping him distributing copies of the constitution on Constitution Day. The college is now revising its policy, which says students can only distribute pamphlets in free-speech zones and must also get approval to issue information to the public.
Brandeis University in Massachusetts also came under fire in April, after rescinding an honorary degree due to be awarded to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the women’s rights activist. The university’s decision was prompted by Ali’s critical remarks on Islam. In a statement defending the decision, officials said Ali’s comments were “inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values”.
Amanda Pereira, who is taking global studies at Brandeis, says she sometimes feels afraid to raise her hand. “We tend to fear speaking out for fear of repercussions from anyone who has some type of power over us,” she says. “As a student your spot is never fully guaranteed.”
An annual report released by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (Fire) found that more than half of higher education institutions in the US restrict free speech. Brandeis is on the list – as are six of the eight founding universities – for having at least one policy that impedes free expression.
Earlier this year, Yale blocked a student-created course evaluation website, Year Bluebook Plus (YBB+ created as an alternative to the administration-operated site, Yale Bluebook). YBB+, commonly compared to the review site Rate My Professor, was user-friendly and attracted heavy traffic from its inception. When it was shut down, the university administration’s email inboxes were filled with complaints of suppression of free speech – prompting the dean of Yale, Mary Miller, to admit that a review of policies was overdue.
“Technology has moved faster than the faculty could foresee,” she said. “What we now see is that we need to review our policies and practices.”
During a live chat with the Huffington Post in January, Peter Xu, co-creator of YBB+, said: “This shows that institutions aren’t suited for the fast changing pace of technology today. The university’s policy is definitely behind the times.”
And this isn’t something new. Back in 2010, the American Association of Colleges and Universities conducted a study that sampled 24,000 college students inquiring about freedom of expression on campus. Only 35.6 per cent strongly agreed that “it is safe to hold unpopular opinions on campus”.
The college policy said students could only distribute pamphlets in free-speech zones
Yet perhaps the curtailment of free speech in colleges should not come as a surprise. In the mid-1700s, a decade before the Declaration of Independence, the first student protest in America was recorded. The Great Butter Rebellion at Harvard University allegedly began when the grandfather of writer Henry David Thoreau, Asa Dunbar, fervently proclaimed: “Behold, our butter stinketh! Give us, therefore, butter that stinketh not.” The protest stirred tension between faculty and students. It also led to the suspension of half the student body. Eventually, the students’ demands were met.
Maybe in the 21st century we need more Dunbars on campuses across the nation. Jalem Towler, an undergraduate at Harvard, says students have the tendency to point the finger at school officials but disregard their own lack of action.
“Administrations don’t change culture or negative social norms,” says Towler. “It’s up to students to speak up and step up when someone’s voice is being silenced or restricted.”
In an email to Index, Greg Lukianoff, the president of Fire and author of Unlearning Liberty, described the manner in which students self-censor themselves.
“As my experience at Fire can attest, this pessimism is warranted. But students generally avoid getting in trouble by following four simple rules:
Talk to the students you already agree with.
Join ideological groups that reflect your existing beliefs.
Do not disagree with professors whose egos cannot take it.
In general, shy away from discussing controversial topics.”
“The outward appearance of so many colleges makes everything seem fine but it’s really the inner layer that should be heavily exposed,” says Pereira.
Challenging the status quo should never be impossible, especially in institutions established to promote inquiry and debate. And although it is saddening that students feel themselves trapped in self-censorship and fear, it takes only one hand and one voice to declare the truth – that restrictions stinketh.
