---

Freedom of Speech on College Campuses… What it Really Means for U.S. Citizens Losing First Amendment Rights!

---

Freedom of speech on college campuses is being restricted and suppressed all over the United States.

This means the First Amendment to the Constitution is being violated at the higher education level, hitting hard exactly those people whose opinions and values will be running this country in just a few years to come.

The freedom of speech and press are fundamental rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution and have been honored for many years. 

When schools undermine these rights they undermine students and restrict their capacity for learning.

---

---

Freedom of Speech Under Attack

As American citizens we are all guaranteed the right to express ourselves in any way we want, though the majority of us do so within the guidelines of courtesy.

Freedom of speech on college and university campuses is often curtailed and/or denied even when students are not behaving offensively, but rather expressing themselves as they have been taught they can according to the Constitution.

It seems as though students at some schools are at the mercy of school officials who have their own opinions of what should and shouldn’t be allowed.

This places these students in an authoritarian environment that is far from democratic and Constitutional.

---

Free Speech Shut Down

On February 21, 2006, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to review the case of Hosty v. Carter that had already been decided in the 7th United States Circuit Court of Appeals.

This concerns not only student-press advocates but also civil rights advocates all across America.

In June of 2005 the 7th Circuit decided 7-4 in Hosty v. Carter that one of the school officials at Governors State University, located in Illinois, wouldn’t be held libel for closing down a student newspaper for publishing articles criticizing university administration.

Anyone involved with the freedoms of student-press were outraged by the decision and had been hoping that the Supreme Court would take the case and issue a final ruling as to whether this type of press censorship should be allowed.

The ruling by the 7th Circuit made it admissible that censorship is allowed on college and university campuses throughout the United States.

---

The Right to Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech on college and university campuses are being threatened by school officials and administrators who believe they have the right to protect and guide students even, in the area of Constitutional rights.

In 2008 at Quinnipiac University, just north of New York City, the student newspaper, “The Chronicle” had to become independent from the university so they could truthfully report on the news.

University administrators had put guidelines on what the students could report on.

Also in 2008, at the University of Texas in Austin during the presidential campaign, students were not allowed to display signs endorsing a political candidate in their dorm windows.

If they did, an alumni member threatened not to make any future donations to the university.

Colleges and universities are constantly placing restrictions on student’s rights to free speech and press.

These are fundamental rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution and have been honored for many years.

---

Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech

No one would deny a school to have codes of ethics students are expected to follow, but when these codes affect freedom of speech on college and university campuses, the Constitutional line is being crossed.

For instance, some schools prohibit talk that is of a sexual nature or contains sexual innuendoes.

Other schools prohibit students from making comments about another’s clothing or body shape.

School officials say that prohibiting some types of speech are for the protection of students who are less vulnerable than others, for instance those students who are targets for discrimination and harassment.

Some campuses have designated areas for students to protest.

This is much the same as the free speech zones that surrounded President Bush whenever he held a public appearance.

What good is dissent if no one is there to listen? Still other campuses decide what content can appear in school newspapers and what is unacceptable.

And even though schools and school officials are always being caught and reprimanded for restricting freedom of speech, it continues to happen around the country.

Students in America need to fight for their right to freedom of speech and expression because if they don’t protect their rights they may soon find them gone.

Students need to be suspicious of things that censor free speech, particularly in educational institutions where students should be allowed to experience all kinds of diversity.

---

---