A good argument can be made nowhere in America is free speech less safe than on private college and university campuses.
...But the First Amendment does not apply to private colleges and universities because they don’t involve governmental action.
Oddly, while all colleges that accept federal student aid money must abide by a vast host of regulations, the Supreme Court ruled in Rendell-Baker v. Kohn that acceptance of such money does not bring them under the umbrella of the First Amendment.
...Not only is there scant legal protection for free speech on private campuses, it is under vigorous attack from zealous students (and sometimes administrators) who regard it as their right and duty to assail anyone whose speech “offends” them.
Saying or doing almost anything these days can conceivably land a student in trouble because someone has whined that it’s a “microaggression” or “harassment” or merely “insensitive.”
With that in mind, consider a recent case at Colorado College.
If Franz Kafka or George Orwell had toyed with a similar plot, they’d probably have rejected it as too far-fetched.
Here is what happened.
Back in November, a student, Thaddeus Pryor, wrote the following reply to a comment (#blackwomenmatter) on the social media site Yik Yak:
“They matter, they’re just not hot.”
Pryor said that he was just joking.
What he did not realize is that there are now many things that must not be joked about on college campuses.
...For having joked in a way that offended the wrong people,
Pryor was told that he was suspended from Colorado College until June, 2017.
Moreover, he is banned from setting foot on campus during that time.
And in the final “pound of flesh” retribution, the school intends to prohibit him from taking any college credits elsewhere..."
No comments:
Post a Comment