Invited Speakers at Universities

[Auburn85 432]

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/342894-berkeley-cancels-ben-shapiro-speech-slated-for-september

 

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After facing another flap over free speech, the University of California, Berkeley on Thursday agreed to pay the venue fees in order to host a speech from conservative writer Ben Shapiro.

 

[Auburn85 432]

 

https://www.mediaite.com/print/college-reinstates-professor-who-said-to-let-white-people-fing-die/

 

College Reinstates Professor Who Said To Let White People ‘F***ing Die'

 

Following the shooting at a Congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, VA back in June, a professor at Trinity College in Connecticut seemed to support the idea that first responders should have let the victims “f**king die” because they were white.

“It is past time for the racially oppressed to do what people who believe themselves to be ‘white’ will not do, put end to the vectors of their destructive mythology of whiteness and their white supremacy system. #LetThemFu**ingDie,” Professor Johnny Eric Williams wrote in a June 18 Facebook post, according to Campus Reform.

Williams had also shared a Medium article titled “Let Them ****ing Die” where an anonymous author suggested that the emergency personnel should have left the wounded victims of the congressional shooting to die.

The author proceeds to offer a series of potentially fatal situations where “bigots” could find themselves in, and advised his readers to “do nothing” in regards to helping the afflicted.

“If you see them drowning. If you see them in a burning building. If they are bleeding out in an emergency room. If the ground is crumbling beneath them. If they are in a park and they turn their weapons on each other: do nothing,” the author commands.

“Least of all put your life on the line for theirs, and do not dare think doing so, putting your life on the line for theirs, gives you reason to feel celestial. Save the life of those that would kill you is the opposite of virtuous. Let. Them. F**king. Die. And smile a bit when you do,” the hate-filled anonymous author proclaims.

Williams later said that he is “fed the **** up with self-identified ‘white’s’ daily violence directed at immigrants, Muslims, and sexual and racially oppressed people,” adding, “the time is now to confront these inhuman a**holes and end this now.”

“It is patently clear we black folks in U.S. have no rights that the white supremacy governing apparatus is willing to protect,” he later posted on Facebook.

Following the backlash from the report, Trinity College put Professor Williams on leave, beginning on June 26, according to The Federalist.

But College Dean and Vice President Tom Cresswell eventually produced a 31-page report that concluded Williams Facebook posts were “extramural utterances” and were protected by the school’s policy of academic freedom.

College President Joanne Berger-Sweeney backed the Dean’s report and added that while Williams actions “offend me personally” and “contradicts our fundamental institutional values,” she has nevertheless decided to reinstate the professor in good standing.

[Auburn85 432]

http://news.wabe.org/post/aclu-ga-threatens-lawsuit-after-oakwood-police-shut-down-protest

 

ACLU of Ga. Threatens Lawsuit After Oakwood Police Shut Down Protest

 

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The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia is considering suing the city of Oakwood in Hall County after the city police department shut down a student protest last month.

 

more at the link

[Auburn85 432]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/there-should-be-free-speech-on-college-campuses-for_us_59a4144fe4b0a62d0987b0b3

 

Aug 28, 2017

 

There Should Be Free Speech On College Campuses For Conservative Students, Conservative Speakers And Liberal Professors

Violence against peaceful right-wing protesters took place on Cal-Berkeley’s campus on Sunday.

Earlier this year, violent protesters at Middlebury College shut down a speech by controversial conservative Sociologist Charles Murray. Often accused as a white nationalist, Murray’s controversial 1994 book The Bell Curve linked lower socioeconomic status with race and intelligence and was very polarizing when it was released. Hundreds of Middlebury students disrupted the program, confronted and shouted down Murray, and pushed and shoved him in the hallway as he was leaving.

Even though I am a liberal and a university professor, I find this to be a continuation of a disturbing trend of silencing conservatives’ free speech rights on college campuses.

Earlier this year at NYU, 11 people were arrested while protesting conservative comedian, Vice media founder and guest speaker Gavin McInnes, cutting his speech short. The previous day, violent protesters shut down an appearance by conservative Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Months later. conservative pundit Ann Coulter’s speech at Berkeley was canceled.

In past years, invitations to conservative speakers at graduation ceremonies have been revoked or declined, such as when former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice backed out of giving Rutgers University’s 2014 commencement speech due to protests.

 As a liberal university professor, I am heartened and encouraged by an awakening of young people in speaking out about social issues and against many of the Trump administration’s agenda items. However, while I strongly disagree with the messages of controversial conservative pundits, I think they should be heard on college campuses. I am not encouraged by the violence of the Middlebury, NYU and Cal-Berkeley protesters and their actions of shutting down speakers that they disagree with.

I’m also encouraged that Berkeley’s chancellor sent a letter to students last week proclaiming the university’s commitment to free speech and that a student-led conservative magazine has invited Ann Coulter, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Steve Bannon to speak on campus during “Free Speech Week” Sept. 24-27.

Universities shouldn’t shelter students and protect them in a liberal bubble. It’s good for them to be exposed to ideas that might differ from theirs. By all means, hold a peaceful protest before or after a controversial conservative comes to speak on campus, but let the speaker give their speech to those who want to hear it. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”  Universities should encourage political debate in classrooms and bring speakers of all ideologies to speak on campus.

    Likewise, I don’t like it when conservative schools shy away from exposing students to liberal viewpoints.

   I teach journalism courses as an adjunct professor at several universities. I’m a staunch liberal, and I make that transparent in my syllabus and during the first class. However, I also strongly encourage students in all of my classes to speak freely and openly when we discuss current events and controversial topics. Even though conservative students are generally a minority in most of my classes, I want them to be able to give their opinions even though I and the rest of the class might disagree with them. It makes class more interesting to have those differing opinions. I don’t punish conservative students for speaking their minds. I have given conservative students “A” grades and liberal students “F” grades.

I graduated from Temple University Law School in the 1980s. One of the most intellectually stimulating parts of class was when conservative students got in passionate arguments with liberal students about law, politics, government, judicial philosophy, and current events. Even though I disagreed with most of what the conservative students said, I found it valuable to learn how they felt and to get a sense of why they differed with me and the other liberals in the class.

   Even though I have a policy of encouraging my conservative students to speak their minds freely, I’ve noticed that most are hesitant to do so, especially since most of the students in the class are very open in expressing their liberal points of view. This was especially the case right after the Trump election, when most of my students were shell-shocked and were trying to figure out how to deal with this setback. I tried to get some conservative students to give a pro-Trump point of view for some balance, but most were shy to do so, which resulted in me playing devil’s advocate to challenge how the rest of the class felt. Unfortunately, I’ve found over the years that even though I encourage, urge, or even beg conservative students to give their viewpoints during class discussions, most are reluctant to do so for fear of sticking out like a sore thumb.

   This concept of free speech should work both ways and also apply to university professors and administrators. 

    Professors shouldn’t be forced to hide their political viewpoints in their classrooms, their scholarship, and their social media. The key is that they be transparent about it and that they not let their political perspectives affect how they treat students in their classes with differing viewpoints.

The concept of academic freedom for university professors needs to be enforced. In 2006, conservative writer David Horowitz wrote a book: The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. Last year, a conservative organization, Turning Point USA, published a watch list of professors who allegedly advanced liberal propaganda in class, while Bob Thorpe, a Republican Arizona state representative, introduced a bill earlier this year that would ban college classes or activities that advocate social justice based on ethnicity, race, or gender. Professors have also been harassed and targeted through secret taping of classes and student meetings. Like students, professors should be allowed to express their beliefs without punishment.

   Free speech is a two-way street. conservative students and speakers on university campuses should be free to express their viewpoints, while liberal students and professors should be free to exercise their free speech peacefully. Violent protests and intimidation shutting down speakers on either side of the political spectrum isn’t constructive and should stop.

―――――――――――    ―――――――――――-    ――――――――

Larry Atkins teaches journalism at Temple University and Arcadia University.

[DKW 86 7,419]

On 4/10/2017 at 7:26 AM, Mims44 said:

What's that saying about if I can make you believe absurdities I can make you commit atrocities?

These instances brought up in the thread are by no means the worst that humans can do, but it does show how easily someone can be swayed to act out of character by instilling radical beliefs in them.

Love the quote. The Nazis practiced it openly. And lets be frank here, many on the Conservative Side practiced it with the Birther thing. Then again, the craziest stuff i may ever hear in my lifetime was the Truther movement and folks, they are alive and well in elite Democrat circles in Hollyweird. 

[DKW 86 7,419]

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Ms. Lowe, who is black, said that he was misinterpreting the proposal and that its goal was to hire people with the right skills and experience to relate to “marginalized communities,” regardless of their race. As for the Day of Absence, held in April, organizers have said that it was voluntary and that no one implied that all white people should leave.

Ms. Lowe is lying...plain and simple.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/us/evergreen-state-protests.html?mcubz=0

Quote

OLYMPIA, Wash. — It started with a suggestion that white students and professors leave campus for a day, a twist on a tradition of black students voluntarily doing the same.

All whites being asked to not be on campus for a day is exactly what Ms Lowe asked for. I am not disagreeing with a one year reversal of the Day of Absence that has been on going at Evergreen for decades apparently. The Black and Minority Staff, Faculty, and Students would meet off campus previously. Lowe asked to change it up this year and reverse it. However, she also wanted it to be MANDATORY or over the course of time, the students deemed it be MANDATORY. Weinstein objected, crowd over-reacted. Rest is Internet History.

[Auburn85 432]

http://college.usatoday.com/2017/08/29/free-speech-on-campus-not-for-adjunct-faculty/

 

Free speech on campus? Not for adjunct faculty, it seems

Debates over free speech on campus have been raging for a couple of years now, focused mostly on issues like controversial guest speakers, tolerance for hearing different views, and political correctness. But one specific group on campus seems to be particularly vulnerable when it comes to expressing views freely: adjunct professors. Because if they say something incendiary in public or on social media, it just might cost them their jobs.

 

That’s happened several times in the past few months, as multiple instructors have lost their university teaching roles after expressing their opinions. Instructors like these:

– Lisa Durden was fired by Essex County College in New Jersey after a heated appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News where she defended a black-only Black Lives Matter Memorial Day party. College president Anthony Munroe said he believed “racism cannot be fought with more racism,” according to the New York Daily News.

– Kathy Dettwyler, an adjunct anthropology professor at the University of Delaware, came under fire after posting on Facebook that Otto Warmbier “got exactly what he deserved.” (Warmbier was the University of Virginia student who was imprisoned in North Korea before being returned to the U.S. in a coma. He died days later.) Twitter users lashed out at Dettwyler and called for the University of Delaware to fire her.

View image on Twitter

 

 Follow

Michelle O'Farish @meshell5683

@UDelaware #KathyDettwyler must lose her job. She is bias against students and not fit to teach young minds - or any mind for that matter 

2:31 PM - Jun 23, 2017

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Indeed, the university announced that Dettwyler would not be rehired and distanced itself from her comments in a press release.

– Ruthie Robertson, an adjunct professor of international politics at Brigham Young University-Idaho, was apparently fired for a private Facebook post she wrote in support of LGBT rights, according to theBoston Globe.

In the post, Robertson said that “this is my official announcement and declaration that I believe heterosexuality and homosexuality are both natural and neither is sinful,” contradicting the view of the conservative BYU, which is associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. BYU officials reportedly asked Robertson to take the post down. After refusing, was told she would not be returning to teach for the fall semester.

– Kevin Allred, an adjunct at Montclair State University in New Jersey, was relieved of the two courses he was set to teach this fall after tweeting that he wished someone would shoot Trump.

– Lars Maishack, a lecturer in history at Fresno State University in California, was not rehired for this fall, reported the Los Angeles Times, after a controversy of a tweet his posted last April with this statement: “To save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better.”

– Kenneth Storey, a visiting assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tampa, was let go from the courses he was set to teach after tweets suggesting the destruction of Hurricane Harvey was “karma” for Texas due to political conservatism and support for President Trump in the state.

The common denominator in these cases is the professors’ adjunct status.

Adjuncts are not full members of a university faculty — they’re instructors, occasionally visiting professors, often part-time or temporary. A key distinction when it comes to job security is that they don’t have the protections of tenure and are not even on a tenure track.

Without tenure, it’s relatively easy for a university to dismiss you outright or choose not to rehire you.

Still, according to the American Association of University Professors, the expression of an opinion is not grounds for firing unless “it clearly demonstrates the faculty member’s unfitness for his or her position.” And that goes for both tenured and non-tenured professors.

Benjamin McKean, an assistant Ohio State University professor, said in an email to USA TODAY College that in cases like Dettwyler’s and Robinson’s, the consequences were not in line with the policy outlined by the AAUP. He notes that adjunct professors don’t often enjoy the same protections as tenured ones.

“As I am familiar with them, none of the most prominent recent controversies have clearly demonstrated the faculty member’s unfitness,” McKean says. “In fact, many of the professors who have been targeted recently had reputations as excellent teachers.”

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/13/berkeley-braces-visit-right-wing-speaker-ben-shapiro/664536001/

 

Berkeley braces for visit by right-wing speaker Ben Shapiro

 

BERKELEY, Calif. - The University of California at Berkeley will seal off large parts of its campus like a fortress with a closed perimeter and a “very large” visible police presence Thursday, when the birthplace of America’s free speech movement faces its next potential clashes.

City and campus authorities anticipate demonstrations at a speech by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor, and are preparing for possible violence with a variety of new strategies and tightened security.

For the first time in two decades, officers will be armed with pepper spray after the city council modified a 1997 ban at an emergency meeting this week.

The tactics to boost security are the latest indication of growing frustrations in Berkeley and other liberal cities that have become targets of violent political protests since the election of President Trump and battlegrounds for extremist groups that support and oppose him.

“We have seen extremists on the left and right in our city,” said Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, a Democrat who backed the police request to use pepper spray. “We need to make sure violence is not allowed.”

Shapiro’s event, organized by campus Republicans, is being watched as a warm-up act for later this month when provocative, right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos says he plans to hold a “Free Speech Week” on Berkeley’s campus with a 20-person lineup that includes Ann Coulter and Stephen Bannon, Trump’s ex-chief strategist and head of Breitbart News. Campus officials say the event is not yet confirmed.

It will be Yiannopoulos’ second attempt to speak at Berkeley this year, after an event in February was abruptly canceled when masked, hooded left-wing anarchists dressed in black rioted outside the event — setting fires and smashing windows on campus and on nearby city streets.

Police and UC Berkeley officials were criticized at the time for giving demonstrators wide latitude and standing aside as the masked anarchists hurled Molotov cocktails at officers and caused $100,000 worth of damage.

Violence escalated at subsequent off-campus protests and authorities say they have learned hard lessons as they struggle to balance free speech rights with preventing violence.

UC Berkeley’s Provost Paul Alivisatos sent a recent campus-wide message detailing security plans, saying no one wearing masks or carrying weapons of any sort will be allowed on campus.

Police will block off the building where Shapiro is scheduled to speak and several other buildings hours before the event starts. Anyone entering the secure zone to pick up tickets must present a photo I.D. Nearby parking lots will be closed.

Berkeley police chief Andrew Greenwood said police will make “very strong, rapid arrests” Thursday night if any protesters have weapons or wear masks.

The security measures include closing Sproul Plaza, the campus’ central hub that was the epicenter of the 1960s Free Speech Movement and site of its most historic protests, sit-ins and speeches.

“Things have changed,” UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said. “We’re a quantum leap away from the sort of arrangements we needed to make in the past for events that have the potential to attract strong political support or opposition.”

In contrast, a similar event featuring Ben Shapiro on campus in 2016 before President Trump was elected and also hosted by Berkeley College Republicans had “ basic security.” It went off peacefully and made no major headlines.

For Thursday’s event, Mogulof said authorities are deploying “very, very large numbers of police officers” from campus, city and regional law enforcement agencies.

Berkeley’s frustrations are shared by officials in other famously liberal cities such as Seattle and Portland, Ore., where Trump supporters and left-wing protesters have repeatedly taken to the streets in supposed free speech demonstrations that have resulted in violence.

At a protest last week in Portland, police said anti-fascist protesters threw smoke devices and other projectiles at officers trying to keep the peace between pro- and anti-Trump crowds. Seven people were arrested.

Black-clad protesters have been a menacing presence at protests in the Pacific Northwest since before Trump was elected, often clashing with police at May Day marches, and they continue to show up at the many demonstrations.

Portland Police Sgt. Chris Burley said the frequent clashes take a toll on officers trying to protect free speech rights.

“You’re out trying to ensure that everybody is able to speak their mind and observe an assault,” Burley said. “As officers try to step in to stop those assaults, the crowd turns on the officers.”

Greenwood, the Berkeley city police chief, sought permission for police to use pepper spray because he said it is preferable to batons and tear gas for crowd control. Tear gas when fired disperses much more widely than pepper spray, raising the risk of hurting peaceful protesters who may be near violent demonstrators, Greenwood said.

“It is a request made of urgency,” Greenwood told city councilors, calling protecting protesters and police amid continued violence in the city “a unique problem.”

He added: “The scope and scale of these demonstrations in our community is unprecedented.”

[aujeff11 6,243]

44 minutes ago, Auburn85 said:

It will be Yiannopoulos’ second attempt to speak at Berkeley this year, after an event in February was abruptly canceled when masked, hooded left-wing anarchists dressed in black rioted outside the event — setting fires and smashing windows on campus and on nearby city streets.

Police and UC Berkeley officials were criticized at the time for giving demonstrators wide latitude and standing aside as the masked anarchists hurled Molotov cocktails at officers and caused $100,000 worth of damage.

Why is everybody so scared to call Antifa by name? Say it.....An-TiF-Uh. Feel better?

[japantiger 4,051]

On 4/7/2017 at 5:49 PM, AURaptor said:

No idea who that is, but it shows you're a coward for not even addressing the issue.

 

And that's no lie!

Come on Raptor, even I laughed at that response from Homey...that was classic humor....

[Auburn85 432]

 

[Auburn85 432]

http://www.salon.com/2017/09/22/students-drown-out-james-comeys-convocation-speech-at-howard-university/

 

Students drown out James Comey’s convocation speech at Howard University

 

As former FBI Director James Comey attempted to deliver a convocation speech at Howard University on Friday afternoon, he was immediately met with a wave of student protests and chants in response to police killings of black Americans.

Protesters sang "We Shall not be Moved" as Comey stood behind a podium prepared to speak. Chants also included "no justice, no peace," and "go home Comey, you are not our homie!"

Although the beginning of Comey's remarks were delayed, but he attempted to reason with the group of students, saying, "I hope you’ll stay to listen to what I have to say, and I just listened to you for five minutes," according to Politico.

Comey's words didn't work, and students continued to make their grievances with the former FBI head known. An administrator attempted to make the protesters sit to no avail, but they were not removed from the auditorium. Other students responded to the protests and shouted "let him speak."

Other students and members of the audience drowning out protesters with "LET HIM SPEAK!!!"

— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) September 22, 2017

"I love the enthusiasm of the young folks, I just wish they would understand what a conversation is. A conversation is where you speak and I listen, and then I speak and you listen," Comey said. "And then we go back and forth and back and forth. And at the end of a conversation, we're both smarter. I am here at Howard to try to get smarter, to try to be useful, to try to have healthy conversations."  

 

 

Comey replies to protestors as they continue to chant, "I'm only going to speak for 12 minutes..." A lot of upset audience members look on. — The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) September 22, 2017

 

Comey did not get political in his speech or discuss the FBI or his firing by President Donald Trump that eventually sparked a special counsel investigation. His words "focused mostly on offering advice to Howard’s students and extolling the virtues of the historically black university," Politico reported, despite ongoing chants from students in attendance.

"Howard University has always been different which is why I wanted to be a part of it," he added. "There is simply too little time taken in the rest of the real world to reflect, to think, to try to reshape the world and yourself. The rest of the real world is a place where it's hard sometimes to find people who will listen with an attitude that they might actually be convinced of something."

"Instead, what happens in the rest of the real world — and about four rows in this auditorium — is that people don’t listen at all, they just try to figure out what rebuttal they’re going to offer when you’re done speaking. Sometimes they will pause briefly before telling you that you’re an idiot," he continued.

Surprisingly, the student protestor's chants lasted the entire duration of Comey's speech.

— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) September 22, 2017

Students also gathered outside after Comey's speech and continued their protest and read the names of black Americans that have been killed by the police.  

 

 

 

Members of @HUResist and supporting students have left @HowardU's Opening Convocation and say the names killed by police.pic.twitter.com/fI3jaqu0fl — The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) September 22, 2017

 

 

Student protestors have moved from Cramton Auditorium to the Mordecai Wyatt Johnson Building Administration. pic.twitter.com/VeXGPduZcY

— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) September 22, 2017

 

In total about 1,500 people were in the auditorium, Politico reported, but roughly 20 students had carried out the protests, though videos of students outside appear to show a bit of a larger crowd.

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.salon.com/2017/10/07/college-students-and-the-first-amendment-what-the-right-doesnt-want-you-to-know/

 

 

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College students and the First Amendment: What the right doesn’t want you to know

SOPHIA A. MCCLENNEN10.07.2017•9:00 AM

 

Ever since the start of the school year we have had weekly reports of free speech intolerance on college campuses. A couple of weeks ago The Washington Post ran an op-ed entitled “A chilling study shows how hostile college students are toward free speech.” And it’s just one example among many. Everywhere one looks there is another article touting the demise of free speech on college campuses.

Even CNN’s Jake Tapper felt the need to jump into the mix:

 

 Follow

Jake Tapper 

 

✔@jaketapper

A chilling study shows how hostile college students are toward free speech - The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-chilling-study-shows-how-hostile-college-students-are-toward-free-speech/2017/09/18/cbb1a234-9ca8-11e7-9083-fbfddf6804c2_story.html?utm_term=.32c6a2dec27a&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1 …

6:48 AM - Sep 19, 2017

Opinion | A chilling study shows how hostile college students are toward free speech

A new survey shows that people from across the political spectrum are astonishingly willing to shut down free speech.

washingtonpost.com

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The media frenzy over free speech on college campuses is so pervasive that even Jordan Klepper’s new satire show, “The Opposition,” decided to cover the topic during their first week on air. Citing a recent Pew Research Center study indicating that 58 percent of Americans think that colleges have a negative effect on our nation, Klepper then showed clips of Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying “freedom of speech and thought on campus are under attack . . . it is transforming into an echo chamber of political correctness, homogeneous thought — a shelter for fragile egos.” Next up was a Fox News clip where a student remarked, “professors are more concerned with teaching this PC narrative than they are with teaching the facts.”

Klepper quipped back: “Yes for some reason the people who spend all their time around books and learning all believe the same facts.” To drive home the absurdity of the debates over college campuses as intolerant echo chambers, Klepper then interviewed Kobi Libii, and they both mocked the idea that “there is more to expertise than knowledge.” The bit closed by pointing out that real intellectual intolerance is the “refusal to back down in the face of new data.”

 

 

And that is the real story. We have significant data to suggest that campus free speech is in no way threatened on college campuses. Even more, we have data that suggests that it is colleges and college-educated people who are the best champions for First Amendment rights. The real risk to the First Amendment comes from older Americans, especially right-leaning ones, not college kids.

Earlier this academic year I wrote a piece on what I am calling “blue-baiting,” a manufactured hysteria over the erosion of free speech protections on college campuses, which is designed to destroy public trust in higher education. The other side to the story, however, is how the overblown coverage of free speech issues on campuses ignores the reality of the millennial generation — a generation that is more idealistic about the First Amendment and more politically engaged than mainstream news coverage of colleges would lead you to believe.

Here are four key points to keep in mind when thinking about free speech, students and college campuses.

1. The right is orchestrating the negative press over campus free speech.

It is perhaps one of the great ironies of the new "alt-right" that they are the ones throwing fits about free speech on campus. It was only a short while ago that the right was at the forefront of all sorts of censorship. In the Ronald Reagan '80s, it was rock lyrics and other offensive speech that had the right up in arms. The argument during those years was that the left would corrode and corrupt young minds with sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

 

long article. more at the link.

[Auburn85 432]

https://lawnewz.com/video/university-shuts-down-conservative-lawmakers-campus-speech-after-protest-drown-him-out-watch/

 

 

Quote

 

University Shuts Down Conservative Lawmaker’s Campus Speech After Protests Drown Him Out

The Constitution protects Americans’ speech from being restricted by government actors. On Monday, however, the opposite happened, when Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain was scheduled to speak on the campus of Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

Cain, who was brought to speak by the school’s Federalist Society, could barely get a word out, as dozens of protesters shouted him down with chants like, “No hate anywhere, you don’t get a platform here!” The protesters claim that Cain is a part of the alt-right anti-LGBT, having opposed government funding for inmates’ sexual reassignment surgeries.

“He just stands for hatred and bigotry on a scale that isn’t deserving of a place or platform here at TSU,” law student Justin Tolston told local KHOU.

Not everyone agreed with the protest’s tactics. Tolston’s fellow student, Preston Strickland said, “I would’ve heard what he had to say in order to challenge his stand, because now he’s moving on to the next, and we haven’t educated him on our perspective and where we come from.”

Eventually, protesters were told to leave the room, but Cain still didn’t get to speak, as University President Dr. Austin Lane shut down the whole event and told police officers to let those who were sent out to come in.

“What you’re seeing today is an unapproved event,” Lane said, claiming the Federalist Society didn’t follow proper procedures in scheduling the program.

Daniel Caldwell, the president of the student group, took issue with that statement, saying, “I know, for a certainty, that I followed every step required for our handbook.”

Rep. Cain said in a statement after leaving campus:

Today I attended an event scheduled by the TSU chapter of the Federalist Society a few months ago. I was greeted by campus officials, given a guest parking voucher, and brought into a room in which the administration had specifically requested the talk occur. Then Black Lives Matter came in and bullied the administration into ending the event. It’s a sad day for universities across Texas whenever speech and a variety of views are prevented from being presented due to bullies.

TSU said in a statement:

Texas Southern University welcomes free speech and all viewpoints on campus as part of our collegiate experience. Today’s event, which was scheduled at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, ended early because it was not a registered university student organization event.

Our campus is open and welcoming to all state and elected officials. TSU President Dr. Austin Lane was meeting with a state senator when he received word of the event at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Dr. Lane went to the event to see State Rep. Briscoe Cain, students and faculty, and then learned that it was an unauthorized Texas Southern University student organization event. Our vice president of Student Affairs has since met with the student organizer and informed him of university procedures.  Several events have been cancelled in the past on campus because procedures were not followed.  We welcome the return of any guest speaker for deliberative dialogue on our campus in accordance with university procedures.

 

 

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2017/10/protesters_disrupt_announcemen.html

 

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The University of Oregon president's state of the university speech in Eugene was canceled Friday after a noisy group of protesters took over the stage where he was to announce an anonymous $50 million gift.

President Michael Schill walked out of the auditorium without ever taking the podium. He said later in a video address that, while he supports free speech, he does not support protests that impede other people's free speech rights.

The loud group of a few dozen students did not have a cohesive message but did express concerns over tuition costs, with the leader referring repeatedly to "CEO Schill."

Charlie Landeros, who led the march onstage and spoke using a bullhorn, said the group represented UO students who felt their voices weren't being heard by university administrators.

"Over the summer there has been a huge proliferation of neo-Nazi propaganda plastered all over campus," Landeros said, adding he feared it could escalate to a violent hate crime. "We're here to stand against that." 

Tobin Klinger, a university spokesman, said the demonstration violated school policy because it hindered "the university's ability to do its work and function."

"It's unfortunate that it escalated to the point where we had to go a different path," Klinger said.

Schill's speech, which ironically included a defense of free speech rights, was made available on the university's website. "If someone says something we don't like, we should not try to shut them down," he said.

In his remarks about the gift, Schill said the donors challenged him to "use the gift opportunistically, not for business as usual." He said he would initially use the gift for initiatives in data science, an increase in endowed chairs for faculty and support for a new Black Cultural Center.

He also threw support to the School of Journalism and Communication's planned Media Center for Science and Technology, as part of the new Knight Campus.

-- Therese Bottomly

 

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

More accusations of racism and -neo nazism. 

When I said the other day that people are too often accused of being racist, I meant it and it appears I’m spot on.

[TexasTiger 12,828]

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/452668/pro-trumpers-shout-down-liberal-speakers-whittier-college

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/10/18/university-florida-braces-richard-spencer-speech/774854001/

 

 

Quote

 

'It’s basically a powder keg right now': University of Florida braces for Richard Spencer speech

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As the clocked ticked down toward white nationalist Richard Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida, the campus was on edge amid concerns over potential violence between supporters and counterprotesters.

Students and faculty expressed fear and worry about Spencer’s Thursday appearance and the increased security presence. But there were signs of a unifying response and a desire to rebut hate speech and racism.

“The students are scared, especially our students who are from minority communities," said Dr. Vincent Adejumo, a lecturer in African-American studies. "Many of them have already left town. Parents have great concern.

“It’s basically a powder keg right now.”

Painted sheets hang from the facades of fraternities and sororities at the University of Florida repeating “Love not hate #TogetherUF.”

Amid tightening security, No Nazi UF, hosted a teach-in Tuesday night with students, faculty and staff discussing the ideology Spencer espouses and the campus response to it.

Across the street from the 2,000-acre university, Florida Highway Patrol vehicles clogged the parking lot of the Hilton UF Conference Center Hotel and dozens of officers worked to secure the area.

“Honestly, everyone’s kind of scared right now and we don’t know what to expect,” said sophomore Rachel Guttman, who added that her Jewish sorority advised its members against wearing their letters on Thursday.

In August, Spencer helped organize a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., where Heather Heyer was killed by a car driven into demonstrators protesting the rally.

UF, the state's second-largest university with more than 52,000 students, initially denied Spencer’s request to speak here in September, but in a letter to the UF community, president Kent Fuchs said the First Amendment required the university to allow the event.

The National Policy Institute, which Spencer runs, paid $10,564 to rent the 1,700-seat Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. No UF organization invited Spencer, the university said.

UF said it and law enforcement agencies will spend more than $500,000 on security for the event. At the request of Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Monday.

 

Barricades went up Tuesday along the road to the Phillips Center, in the southwestern part of campus. The city will close part of 34th Street, the main road along the western edge of UF, and restrict traffic in the area around the center.

The security presence prompted a mixed response.

“It’s comforting to know that they’re there,” sophomore Tyler Kaplan. “If something were to happen, we’re the most prepared.”

Added freshman Sabrina Faks, “If anything, it’s kind of scary that they had to hire $500,000 worth of more security.”

The combination of the police presence and the state of emergency “gives off the feeling that something major is going to happen,” Adejumo said.

Fuchs has advised students to ignore the event while encouraging them to challenge Spencer’s “message of hate and racism.”

But that message is particularly harmful for certain groups on campus, Adejumo said.

“Many of these students, they’ve never seen anything like this ever,” Adejumo said. “So to say to just ignore it, you can’t just ignore it. I think that’s the wrong signal and message that the university is signaling to the students. Many of the students are from subjugated groups and you can’t just ignore the oppression that you’re feeling.”

Kaplan said his Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, has sent in a national representative “to watch over us” and that the fraternity asked university police for extra security.

In a letter he wrote to the community earlier this month, Fuchs encouraged members of the UF community to speak up for the values of the university.

“Make it clear that messages of hate on our campus are contrary to those values,” he said.

In addition to signs hung from fraternities and sororities, the #TogetherUF campaign is distributing “Gators Not Haters” T-shirts.

The Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student Center planned a “good deed marathon” for Thursday.

No Nazi UF started a change.org petition that had more than 3,500 supporters Wednesday morning calling for UF to prevent Spencer from speaking, and it has encouraged the peaceful protest of Spencer’s speech.

Florida does not plan to cancel classes on Thursday, though some buildings around the Phillips Center will be closed. Some students, like Guttman, are still deciding whether they’ll leave campus before Spencer’s speech.

“I don’t feel unsafe,” Guttman said. “I just feel unsure of what could happen with an event like this.”

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2017/09/speech-is-free

Speech is free

Ryan Born

September 25

It seems that, nowadays, cries for “free speech” ring from campus to campus. The term has become quite famous and quite popular. Perhaps it owes its popularity to how vague it is. It generally comes from conservatives in response to some sort of censoring of ideas. In its own way, "free speech" has become conservatives' rhetorical weapon of choice, defended by right-leaning groups and thinkers both on and off campus. Recently, Professor John Londregan and some of his fellows wrote a letter calling for an end to the “shared and pervasive reality of growing hostility to free expression on college campuses across the country and around the world.” But what exactly is free expression, or “free speech?”

Conservatives would have you believe that their insistence on free speech is related to a desire for intellectual diversity and openness of discussion. When conservatives appeal to “free speech,” it is actually a calculated political move, designed to open up avenues of political discourse while shaming others from moving in active political opposition. I argue that when conservatives resort to this move, they can be safely ignored, as they are appealing to a right that does not exist. In my belief, when conservative ideas are opposed, there is no right that is being infringed.

We must begin with a fact: speech is intensely political. Speech is biased, opinionated. Anything we say, anything we don’t say, has political content and weighs on the scale of politics. Be aware then, that a call for “free speech” is as political as all speech is, because it reflects an opinion of what speech ought to be. And opinions are politics. Because “free speech” is a cornerstone of our rights under the Constitution, it can appear that conservatives’ socially free speech has this constitutional tradition as its backbone. However, this speech is something much different. As seen with many conservative groups, such as the Princeton Open Campus Coalition, conservatives are interested in being able to propose their ideas without any political opposition to their right to speech. I am not arguing that conservatives do not expect intellectual opposition to their content; instead, I am arguing against their right to be heard and accepted. I should clarify that I use “conservative” broadly to mean both those politically opposed to progressive aims, but also in particular to refer to those who invoke “free speech” to defend their access to political debate and to forestall political opposition to their viewpoints.  Finally, I want to make clear that “opposition” in this case refers to political opposition, which includes disinvitations, protests, and boycotts.

 

Yet, that has never been a right in private, nor at a university. If one presents an idea, one must be prepared to receive some type of response. Agreement is a possibility as much as outrage is. When conservatives propose this idea, they are demanding a private political right vis-à-vis other citizens to declare their views without opposition. But, opposition is not only allowed, but morally required, whether by pen, by protest, by boycott, or by disinvitation. Speech is political, and it is therefore within the realm of politics to oppose speech by any acceptable political means. I am not condoning violence; violence is unacceptable. To speak politically and demand that your political opponents hold back, however — this is not a right that society provides.

Indeed, there is something insulting and condescending about conservative appeals to free speech, and appeals to “free speech” make conservative arguments sound weak. It is as if they think, “If only the poor children listened to our ideas! If they didn’t simply reject our ideas out of hand, they would be listened to! We are right!” This, of course, ignores an obvious possibility: that conservative ideas have been listened to, that they have been weighed, and that they have been rejected. If conservative arguments were strong, they would be convincing, and if they were convincing, they would not meet political opposition. If conservative arguments were strong, they would stand without desperate appeals to the idea of “free speech.” If the only justification conservatives can offer for their ideas is that they merely exist, then let me say as Trotsky did: “You are miserable bankrupts, your role is played out; go where you ought to go — into the dustbin of history!”

When dealing with ultra-conservative factions (those on the alternative right, such as Nazis or white supremacists), “free speech,” or speech without fierce and unrelenting opposition, must be rejected entirely. There is no need to hear the arguments of hate, to engage in a “dialogue,” or to “hear the other side.” These arguments have been heard, and they were smashed at Gettysburg, resisted at Charlottesville, undone at Normandy, condemned at Nuremburg, and laid to rest at Dachau. Anyone who enjoys living in a democracy or a republic or appreciates human rights should be in political opposition to the alternative right, Republicans and Democrats alike. Fascists cannot appeal to the very principles of freedom they aim to dismantle, and no human is under the obligation to listen to what has already been refuted.

For conservatives, I honestly believe they are better off evaluating and reshaping their arguments rather than resorting to the argument of “free speech.” They are better off without it. Many conservative ideas are still valuable in moderation or require their fair day in court. As I have argued before, plurality and diversity of opinion is useful and valuable. Nothing is more advantageous to an argument than resistance, and intellectual diversity is useful. But, some ideas will be opposed, whether they can be justifiably offered or not, and this opposition may come in the form of political opposition. But some ideas will already have been judged wanting. Conservatives ought to question why some ideas are so stringently opposed and then adapt their arguments, instead of begging for “free speech.”

Just like conservatives, liberals and progressives do owe it to themselves to think critically about what is said and to pay attention to their arguments, both within their factions and when appealing to conservatives. I should not be considered to be arguing for a type of political groupthink, or a type of rabid crusaderdom. The ability to think critically ought to be praised and ought to play a role in campus discourse and in any political group, internally and externally. As I have suggested, liberals should aim to reach out to conservatives and moderates by appealing to how they think, which can require a critical approach. Liberals do benefit from being able to engage conservatives, to bring them around to new opinions through an understanding of their views. Certainly this is a fine argument for intellectual free speech. But, it does not make intellectual free speech a moral necessity. It is merely a pragmatic aid, just like any other sort of thought exercise.

Conservatives are not heroes for calling for people to exercise their critical thinking, to entertain their arguments; I have no fear that in a country and a campus of intelligent and independent people, voices will be heard. A voice is a political thing, and to raise it is a political action that can be opposed by political means. There is no such thing as “social free speech,” where “free” refers to a right to speak free from obstinate opposition. And if conservatives disagree, they are welcome to it. I, and others, are happy to respond accordingly. Really, that’s the problem, what conservatives can’t stand, what they can’t imagine could be true: speech is free.

Ryan Born is a junior in Philosophy from Washington, Mich. He can be reached atrcborn@princeton.edu.

[HVAU 673]

On 4/6/2017 at 6:30 PM, AURaptor said:

elle, homer, usn, texas... ANYONE care to respond ? 

 

ANYONE ? 

My two cents, from the left side...

I believe that protesting the appearance of invited speakers is unproductive.  If these students have the conviction to oppose the speakers, and the intelligence to debate them, they should attend the speeches and vocally challenge the speakers.  If they are unable to do so, they should either attend and try to learn something about their opponents or not attend.  The mob mentality is a little strong though.

I find people like Yiannopolis and Spencer despicable, but they have a right to speak up to the point of inciting violence (I think that is the current litmus test).

Just a personal note to you and those that perpetually say things like "ooh the other side sure is quiet on this issue", not everyone feels the need to weigh in on every political matter that gets posted.  Sometimes it is because they agree with you on that particular issue.  Sometimes it is because they don't feel a need to speak for others and their actions.  Sometimes the issue at hand has been offered up simply as an another divisive collection of articles to pit left v. right.  

Not all of us on the left feel the need to defend everyone else on the left.  I'm sure you don't feel the need to defend the actions of everyone on the right.  There are good, thoughtful liberals and good, thoughtful conservatives.

[Auburn85 432]

University California, Santa Cruz 

Language Warning

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

Indoctrination over education, apparently.

 

http://amp.nationalreview.com/article/452965/uc-santa-cruz-college-republicans-meeting-crashed-protests

22 hours ago, Auburn85 said:

University California, Santa Cruz 

Language Warning

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.news4jax.com/news/suspect-arrested-after-shooting-at-bus-stop-group

 

(3 Richard Spencer supporters arrested after shot fired at protesters

2 brothers encouraged shooter, shouted Nazi chants, Gainesville police say

 

Three supporters of white nationalist Richard Spencer were arrested Thursday after a confrontation with anti-Spencer protesters that ended with a shot being fired, Gainesville police said.

The three men are from Texas and were in Gainesville for Spencer's speech at the University of Florida, which drew national attention and security from more than a thousand law enforcement officers.

According to police, Tyler Tenbrink, 28, fired the shot, after he and two brothers in a silver Jeep shouted obscenities, threats and chants about Hitler at about eight protesters, who were at a bus stop at SW Archer Road and 34th Street.

No one was injured by the gunfire, but Gainesville Police Department spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said that might have been by mere inches.

“Someone shooting into a crowd definitely has the intent of hurting or killing somebody in that crowd,” Tobias said.

All three men have been charged with attempted homicide, and Tenbrink, of Richmond, Texas, has also been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to police, just before 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Tenbrink and brothers William Fears, 30, and Colton Fears, 28, stopped their Jeep to argue with a group of protesters on SW Archer Road and one of the passengers yelled “Hail Hitler” and other chants.

The protesters, whose names aren't being released to protect their safety, argued back and one of them hit the rear window of the Jeep with a baton, according to the arrest report.

The Jeep then pulled about 10 feet away, stopped again and Tenbrink got out and pulled a handgun on the protesters as the Fears brothers, who are both from Pasadena, Texas, egged him on, police said.

According to the arrest report, they shouted “I'm going to f****** kill you,” “kill them” and “shoot them,” before Tenbrink fired the shot, which hit the exterior brick wall of a nearby RadioShack building.

Police said that as the Jeep sped off, one of the protesters was able to get the license plate and reported it to investigators, who relayed it to law enforcement in the area. 

“I am simply amazed that someone who had just been shot at was brave enough and calm enough to get that information to law enforcement immediately,” Tobias said. “That key piece of information was just what the law enforcement agencies that were working yesterday needed to bring these folks into custody quickly.”

An off-duty deputy with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office spotted the Jeep with the matching Texas tag around 9 p.m. on I-75 about 20 miles north of Gainesville.

Units from the Alachua Police Department, the High Springs Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol conducted a high-risk felony stop on the Jeep at the 405 mile marker of I-75 North and took the three men into custody, police said. Two handguns were found in the Jeep, Tobias said.

3 men share opinions during protest 

The three men have connections to extremist groups or ideals, according to Gainesville police.

“Yesterday, people from outside of our community came to create violence and disruption, they came to bring hate to our city, yet the people of Gainesville showed them exactly what our town is all about," Tobias said.

News4Jax sister station WKMG interviewed William Fears on Thursday hours before Spencer took the Phillips Center stage. Fears said he also attended the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, which turned deadly when a woman was hit and killed.

William Fears slammed Gov. Rick Scott for declaring a state of emergency to give Alachua County access to more resources ahead of the controversial event at UF.

“You have child pornography and all these twisted sexual conventions that are allowed to go on for sexual fetishes, but yet if a man says whites have a right to exist, they have to declare a state of emergency,” William Fears said. “I want to be part of this, because it's unprecedented. It's a huge part of history.”

Colton Fears expressed a similar sentiment about the state of emergency.

“A hurricane is considered a state of emergency, right? Is that man as dangerous as a hurricane?” Colton Fears asked of Spencer. “I think that is very, very stupid. Ahead of the event, too, before it even happened? That's crazy. That shows you right there that they're not for free speech.”

When he was asked about many of the protesters for Spencer's speech being white, Tenbrink didn't pull any punches with his response.

“They're ashamed of being themselves,” he said. “How more of a despicable creature could you be than someone who is ashamed and feels sorry for the color of their skin? I never owned slaves. Nobody here ever picked cotton. End of story.”

The three men remain in the Alachua County Jail. The Fears brothers are each being held on $1 million bond and Tenbrink is under a $3 million bond.

Tenbrink has a history of burglary, drug and theft charges and several domestic violence convictions.

Tenbrink pleaded guilty in 2014 to punching his girlfriend in the face, pleaded guilty in 2011 to choking an ex-girlfriend, who was the mother of his infant son, and pleaded no contest in 2009 to a misdemeanor domestic-violence charge. He was sentenced to three years in prison for the 2014 charge.)

[Auburn85 432]

 

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/11/the-surprising-revolt-at-reed/544682/#article-comments

 

Quote

At Reed College, a small liberal-arts school in Portland, Oregon, a 39-year-oldSaturday Night Live skit recently caused an uproar over cultural appropriation. In the classic Steve Martin skit, he performs a goofy song, “King Tut,” meant to satirize a Tutankhamun exhibit touring the U.S. and to criticize the commercialization of Egyptian culture. You could say that his critique is weak; that his humor is lame; that his dance moves are unintentionally offensive or downright racist. All of that, and more, was debated in a humanities course at Reed.

Very long article. More at the link