Free speech ends and annoyance begins

Nov 5 2009 - 12:08am | Robert Beckhusen

In the past two months, three faculty members at San Diego-Area Southwestern College were banned from campus after they strayed from a “free speech patio” during a protest against school policies. A student reporter at James Madison University was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct after attempting to interview students in a residence hall.

A student resident at the University of Albany was forced to remove a sign from his door satirizing campus food because it was “defacing school property.”

A conservative group at Bucknell University was censored after they attempted to distribute fake money with President Obama’s face and the words, “Obama’s stimulus plan makes your money as worthless as monopoly money.”

The excuse? Soliciting without prior approval. The school argued the stunt was on par with peddling products.

I learned about these crimes through the non-partisan Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, whose president, Greg Lukianoff, spoke to a small group of student activists Monday. The students, mostly affiliated with the Young Conservatives of Texas, did good work bringing him here. F.I.R.E. has built a name pushing back against such infringements, and I support them for it.

I’m not associated with any conservative or Republican group, but it’s a matter-of-fact that conservative students (particularly social conservatives) face greater challenges to speech than others. It’s troubling that individuals on the left (and universities are, with some outliers, bastions of the left) seem passive about a very eerie development. I would only suggest that if the roles were reversed, well, think about it. It’s not a “conservative” issue.

There are examples from Texas State’s own history, if less clear cut. In front of Old Main, Nov. 13, 1969, students protesting the Vietnam War were threatened with suspension if they refused to disperse and accept an alternative time and place offered by the university. Ten students were suspended. A suit brought against the school by the suspended students was rejected by the Fifth Circuit court.

Texas State has a policy limiting speech to “campus expression areas.” It’s understandable universities fear liability.

From The Fighting Stallions to the Psychology Building, the grassy mall in front of the J.C. Kellam Administration Building and the mall between the Alkek Library and the LBJ Student Center are the most trafficked areas. You can do your thing without prior approval. I don’t like limiting it in this way, but as I said, it is expansive for a university.

As a point of comparison, according to F.I.R.E., the South Campus of Tarrant County College restricts speech to “an elevated, circular concrete platform about 12 feet across.”

But that’s only part of the story. As the university permits a broad physical space to conduct discussion, its restrictions on student conduct is so broad, you couldn’t get away with saying very much (if the restrictions were actually enforced).

The Code of Student Conduct prohibits “abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language” and “offensive gestures or displays.” The code also states that “knowingly or recklessly harassing or threatening, in person, in writing or by other means, to take unlawful action against any person, thereby causing or intending to cause annoyance or alarm” is restricted.

Well, to make it clear, the university already forbids any activity which violates any federal, state or local law. Courts can issue restraining orders against persons who harass others, and for good reason. Wouldn’t this take care of whatever problems may arise?

So, it’s not only too broad, since “vulgar” language is protected by the First Amendment and Supreme Court rulings when applied to social commentary (these restrictions don’t make any distinction), but also terribly vague. What is vulgar, indecent or annoying is up to the person hearing the message.

What is annoying to me might not be annoying to you, but in a society where one can be punished for annoying either of us, soon there’s little anyone could say.

So to sum up, I’m not sure where F.I.R.E. would stand on these policies. I don’t speak for them. But a cursory look is a cause for concern, skepticism over whether these policies are warranted, and an impetus to ask whether they should be observed closely and resisted if there’s sufficient reason.

If Texas State conservatives raise a challenge, I’ll stand with them.

—Robert Beckhusen is a pre-mass communication sophomore

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