Protests, Free Expression, and College Campuses
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Social Education 82(1), pp. 6–9 ©2018 National Council for the Social Studies Lessons on the Law Protests, Free Expression, and College Campuses Evan Gerstmann Much has been written about university student protests against conservative speak- commencement speaker at Rutgers ers on campus, and there has been a great deal of media coverage as well. The bulk University. At Smith, students and faculty of the coverage has been critical, lamenting the lack of respect that today’s students protested Lagarde’s invitation because have for free speech and meaningful debate. Across the country, legislation is being of her representation of IMF policies, considered that would mandate punishment for disruptive students and remove which critics argue have not had a posi- university autonomy in dealing with controversial social issues. This legislation will tive influence on developing economies. be discussed in greater detail later in the article. At Rutgers, students protested Rice’s invitation based on her support of the Is this concern overly hyped? Is this Maddow; Clarence Thomas and Ruth Iraq War. It was competely reasonable legislation really neccesary, or even Bader Ginsburg. Students have abso- for students to object to both women as positive? While free speech is a corner- lutely no right to keep a speaker off of commencement speakers. stone of American democracy and is their campus simply because they don’t Why is commencement different? central to the mission of higher educa- like their point of view. If a professor Many reasons. Serving as a commence- tion, the coverage of this issue has gen- invites a member of the Nazi Party to ment speaker is not just a speaking erally lacked nuance and has failed to campus (and I should mention that not opportunity—it is a major honor by a pay attention to important distinctions. only am I Jewish, but my father was born university. Commencement addresses There is a difference between objecting in Nazi Germany and I lost family in the are often accompanied by honorary to regular campus speakers and object- Holocaust), for example, that should be degrees awarded to the speaker. Smiling ing to commencement speakers who are allowed because it is good for students photographs are taken with the univer- being honored by the university. There to see what the face and voice of evil sity president, who is generally expected is a distinction between protest and dis- looks and sounds like. Forewarned is to praise the speaker during an introduc- ruption. There is a distinction between forearmed. tion. In short, when a university chooses cancelling speakers because their views Commencement speakers, however, a commencement speaker, it is saying are offensive to some and cancelling are another matter. Two of the most that he or she represents the values of the speakers because their tactics violate the heavily covered incidents of “political university. As accomplished as Secretary privacy and safety of students. There is correctness run amok” were the cancel- Rice is, there is nothing wrong with stu- a distinction between how to respond to lations of the commencement addresses dents arguing that she does not represent disruption of campus events by students by two very accomplished women, their university’s values. and disruption by outside groups. Very Christine Lagarde and Condolezza Further, few students want to skip little of the coverage and writing about Rice. They are, respectively, the cur- their own commencement, so the stu- these issues take these crucial distinc- rent head of the International Monetary dents are a captive audience. Free speech tions into account. Fund (IMF) and a former secretary of is generally understood as protecting state. They both would make fine speak- one’s right to reach a willing audience, Protesting Campus Speakers vs. ers at any university, but not necessarily not an unwilling one. It is intolerant to Commencement Speakers commencement speakers. Both stand for try to stop a speaker from addressing Universities should certainly welcome things that students are perfectly entitled students who want to hear her, but it informative speakers of disparate to object to, and do. In 2014, Christine is legitimate to protest the choice of a points of view. Students have much to Lagarde was invited to be a commence- speaker you must listen to. The com- learn from both Ted Cruz and Bernie ment speaker at Smith College, while mencement speaker is given the rarest Sanders; Tucker Carlson and Rachel Condolezza Rice was invited to be a of all platforms—one that reaches all Social Education 6 Reuters/Noah Berger Conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos holds protest signs while speaking at the University of California in Berkeley, California, September 24, 2017. graduating university students whether tactics to silence a speaker. That line has database,” which tries to catalog these they want to hear her or not. In fact, the been crossed in various instances, such instances. FIRE does some excellent Supreme Court ruled in Lee v. Weisman as the injury inflicted upon a professor work and its data base is useful, but the (1992) that a commencement invocation at Middlebury College in 2017 when she data base does not clearly distinguish given by a rabbi at a high school gradu- tried to interview libertarian conserva- between true disruption and legitimate ation violated the Constitution because tive political scientist Charles Murray. protest. I encourage readers to look at the graduates were effectively forced to sit The professor suffered whiplash and a website and make their own judgments through it. concussion after protestors stormed the about whether violence and disruption Finally, a commencement address is interview. Middlebury later disciplined is really an epidemic on university cam- not a give and take. The speaker delivers 67 students for their role in the protest, puses today. a speech and the students are supposed citing “acts of disruption and violence, Violent protests and other unaccept- to respectfully listen. In other settings, a where available means of protest were able methods get wide coverage, but controversial speaker can expect tough declined.” Violent riots erupted in 2017 they often get lumped together with the questions from the students, faculty, and at the University of California, Berkeley, much larger group of situations where staff. Not a commencement speaker. ahead of a scheduled appearance by con- students and faculty are merely exer- Protesting the choice of a speaker is servative personality Milo Yiannopoulos. cizing their own free speech, giving the therefore the only opportunity students Given that there are thousands of col- impression that violent students are run- have to dissent. leges and universities, however, these ning amok nation-wide. Looking again at instances represent a tiny fraction of the examples of Christine Lagarde and Protest vs. Disruption the responses to controversial speakers Condoleeza Rice, it should be empha- No one has a right to block people from on campus. The advocacy group FIRE sized that both speakers made their own going to hear a speaker, or to use vio- (Foundation for Individual Rights on decision to withdraw after students and lence, or to shout down, or use other Campus) maintains a “disinvitation faculty peacefully voiced their objec- January/February 2018 7 tions. That is a very different situation sion. But there are lines that should not tive speakers, universities have an obli- from the violent protests we saw at be crossed, and if a university becomes gation to keep speakers who threaten Berkeley and Middlebury College. Yet aware that a speaker regularly crosses other student’s rights off of campus. the media rarely makes this distinction. those lines, that speaker should be dis- We should keep this in mind when we Reporting on the cancellation by trans invited. A clear example of this would debate student free speech and the right activist Janet Mock, who was supposed be Milo Yiannopoulos, who was dis- to protest. to speak at Brown University in 2016, invited by the University of California The Daily Beast’s headline screamed following the protests at Berkeley. Protests by Outside Groups “Brown Students Shut Down Trans While universities should not knuckle President Trump famously responded Activist’s Speech.” They did no such under pressure to violent protests, to the violence at Berkeley by threat- thing. In fact, a mere 160 out of nearly Berkeley was well justified in disinvit- ening to revoke that school’s federal 9,000 Brown students signed a petition ing Yiannopoulos. This is not because of funds. However, much, perhaps all of objecting to her talk. Mock decided to his views, but because of his tactics. At the violence was perpetrated by outside cancel. That’s a shame, but students have another university talk, Yiannopoulos groups that were not affiliated with the every right to protest a speaker they don’t put the student ID picture of a transgen- university. It is difficult to know exactly like, and there was no threat of violence der student on a large screen, without which organizations were involved or disruption. that student’s permission, and told the because many of the violent protesters audience that he would like to “bang wore masks. Violent outside protesters Disinviting Speakers for the Right him.” coming to campuses is a serious issue Reasons, Including Tactics This tactic is a violation of student and we need to be discussing how best Various conservative student groups have privacy, safety, and university rules to deal with it. The last thing we should taken up the strategy of inviting speak- against sexual harassment. However, do is to conflate such actions with stu- ers who can be generally described media coverage of this aspect of the dent protests as President Trump did. as “provocative.” Provocative speakers Yiannopoulos controversy was minimal.