Free Speech: Freedom Of Speech On Campus

It seems every time you turn on the news, there is another story talking about free speech on campuses around the country. Many of these stories involve students protesting offensive speakers from talking at their universities. According to the article Free Speech or Safe Speech, protesting has become intense and dangerous. Students believe these offensive speakers create a hostile environment and interrupt their education and they therefore, should not be able to speak at their school. These students believe campuses should be a “safe zone from hate speech” (“Free Speech or Safe Speech”, 2017). This has caused a lot of outrage which, has sparked a big debate surrounding free speech on campus. In a recent news article, a congressional hearing,

One opinion both sides could agree on is that freedom of speech on campus needs to be addressed but, should offensive speech be banned?

Freedom of speech discord on campus has been around for years but in the past few years it has become different. Erwin Chemetinsky (2017), the dean at Berkley Law School, explained that in the past many students wanted to speak out and hold demonstrations but, felt silenced by the campus administration. On today’s campuses, the controversy is

The first amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. cont. amend. I). The first amendment grants a person freedom of religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It protects citizens of the United States from Congress supporting one religion over others and restricting an individual’s religious choice. This enforces separation of church and state. The first amendment guarantees the right for society to come together and to petition their government. It also allows society the freedom of expression, so congress cannot silence the press or person who is speaking freely. This possibly is the most important to Americans - freedom of speech. In the article The ‘Right’ to Disrupt Free Speech On Campus, the author George Leef (2017) states, “When students disrupt events where speakers are trying to make arguments they dislike, they always say that their conduct is justified”. Most students say they are protesting hate speech, which isn’t protected by the First Amendment. Leef explains that these student’s arguments have a major flaw. The First Amendment does not have a “no exceptions for hate speech” (Leef, 2017). There is zero language used to