Freedom of Speech at College Campuses

In college campuses with certain restrictions put in place on where you can protest on campus and making sure that no one is exposed to anything obscene.

“Should universities be able to place limits on free speech?” I say yes but, others might say no because everyone deserves to use their right of the First Amendment, which is the freedom of speech. They could also say that if a campus is fully open for anyone to go on campus then their shouldn’t be any limits on free speech on college campuses. Furthermore, they could say that putting limits on college campuses would be considered censorship, which is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. I know that censorship is very important but I don’t think that censorship gives anyone the right to use obscene content on college campuses especially since some obscene content is a trigger to some people who have been through traumatic events. In addition to that, they could say that putting limits on college campuses could turn into an event like the Free Speech Movement at the University of California Berkeley, which was a historical event but it did get way out of hand, to the point where student Jack Weinberg was put under arrest and the other students surrounded the police car, while Weinberg was inside of it and Mario Savio was on top of it.

Of course I believe that everyone deserves the right to express how they feel about issues and events going on in our world, but with everything that has been happening in our world from school shootings to random acts of violence we need to have limitations on all college campuses. The first limit should be who can come on campus. We can do this by making it so that anyone who comes onto campus to protest has to fill out paperwork that provides who they are, what they’re protesting about, what level of obscene content is in their protest and have someone look over it and confirm or deny it.

“Campus cops who had arrested a protesting student were “poor policeman” who only have a job to do”. Says Mario Savio and even though, Mario Savio was a great public speaker I don’t think that any college campuses would want protest to get so out of hand that the police would have to get involved.

The next limit should be that any protest with obscene pictures must be held in classrooms with signs at the entrances of the campus explaining where the protest is being held, trigger warnings, and caution if there are obscene photos. “ In response to verbal assaults and use of hateful language some campuses have felt it necessary to forbid the expression of racist, sexist, homophobic, or ethnically demeaning speech , along with conduct or behavior that harrasses”. Says The American Association Of University Professors. I feel like these are fair limits because in this day and age many college students are forced to see obscene photos and protest that are about things that they have been through in their lives and that is considered a trigger and it shouldn’t be forced upon students or anyone walking by to see or hear what they choose not to. “

Another limit should be that with any protest that you do if anyone decides not to participate you cannot follow them or antagonize them. This is so that there is no miscommunications or incidents during the protest which, should be respectful towards others. So, instead of trying to change someone’s opinion on something why not tell them your view on an event if they are willing to listen.

Putting limits on college campuses can ultimately be a good thing for not only now but in the long run because putting limits on college campuses can help show that protesting isn’t dangerous and it would show other campuses that are unsure about free speech on college campuses that putting limits on free speech is actually a good idea. Especially since the protest that I have seen lately haven’t been meaningless they actually were protest about events in our world that most people don’t know about or how they affect us, like how immigrant children were forced to sit in a caged rooms, use aluminum foil for blankets and received limited meals.

Overall, I think that college campuses should have limits to ensure that all college campuses are safe.

Works Cited

1. American Association of University Professors. (2018). Freedom of Expression and Campus Speech Codes. Retrieved from [URL]
2. Bok, D. (1998). Universities and the Future of America. Duke University Press.
3. Chemerinsky, E. (2017). Free Speech on Campus. Yale University Press.
4. Fish, S. E. (1994). There's No Such Thing as Free Speech, and It's a Good Thing, Too. Oxford University Press.
5. Gould, J. B. (2018). Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech. Princeton University Press.
6. Lowery, R. (2019). Campus Free Speech: A Guide to Understanding the First Amendment. Routledge.
7. Mill, J. S. (2002). On Liberty. Penguin Classics.
8. Stanley, J. (2018). How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. Random House.
9. Stone, G. R. (2005). Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism. W. W. Norton & Company.
10. Tsesis, A. (2017). Free Speech in the Balance: Public Interests in Regulation. Oxford University Press.