Universities struggle with free speech, hate speech

By The Associated Press

04.28.02

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Universities across the nation are grappling with where to draw the line on free speech versus hate speech.

A Michigan State University fraternity was virtually shut down after some pledges wore T-shirts bearing anti-gay remarks earlier this month.

At Penn State University, a Palestinian student organization was allowed to post cartoons many consider anti-Semitic on its Web site.

And at Auburn University, some students are fighting suspension for wearing blackface and Ku Klux Klan-style robes to fraternity parties.

So are these issues free speech or hate speech? Some universities would argue that they are both — and scholars, students and civil rights activists have debated for decades how to find balance on the issue.

"Speech, hateful as it might be, needs the room to be expressed," Simone Himbeault Taylor, assistant vice president for student affairs at the University of Michigan, told the Lansing State Journal for a recent story. "It's a very delicate issue, dealing with language that is potentially damaging to students and, at the same time, staying true to our principals of free speech."

But others — including many students and minority advocates — argue universities are right to punish hateful speech when intolerance threatens students and their ability to learn.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, more than 300 schools instituted speech codes prohibiting certain forms of offensive speech, according to the California-based Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

A series of successful legal challenges kept most of them from surviving.

"Even if it's clearly hate speech, it's protected," said Terrell Jones, vice provost for educational equity at Penn State.

That's not a clear-cut argument, however. Many schools will punish students or groups for certain speech, using anti-harassment policies or federal laws stating that students are entitled to a hostility-free learning environment.

Almost all schools ban statements that threaten or encourage violence or attack an individual. They also outlaw statements that damage property, such as graffiti or vandalism.

Many groups — including the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Association of University Professors — agree education is the best solution to hate speech on college campuses.

"There are serious dangers in imposing a system of regulation which in effect says it's OK to say things we like, but you cannot say things which we dislike," said Jonathan Knight, associate secretary for the association.

The real danger is to students who are victimized by attacks, said David Warden, a member of Michigan State's gay and lesbian student group.

"Harassment has never been determined free speech," Warden said. "If I go around saying 'I hate the university,' that's fine. If I go down the street yelling 'I hate black people,' then that's attacking people."

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