“Universities have an obligation to treat students and student groups equally regardless of their political views or leanings.”
I’m personally not a fan of self-proclaimed polemicist Ann Coulter. I disagree with many of her opinions, and believe that some of the things she says are absurd. Many people, including the students of the University of California, Berkeley, share my views. But do you know how much my views, or the views of those students should matter when it comes to having Coulter speak – by invitation – to a group of students? Not at all.
While many pundits are screaming about Coulter’s rights, it’s really the rights of the conservative students who invited Coulter to speak that were trampled upon. Universities have an obligation to treat students and student groups equally regardless of their political views or leanings. Conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican, it doesn’t matter. Students can and must be treated equally by publicly funded universities. That didn’t happen when Berkeley decided to ban Coulter.
Could you imagine the uproar if Texas A&M tried to ban civil rights, LGBT activists, or liberal pundits? What if Texas A&M refused to let Bill Maher speak, or tried to silence him by shuffling them off to tiny rooms, and demanding that the talk be held during off hours? Hopefully, students would be rightfully enraged.
The students in this case, made up of the Berkeley College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation, recognized that their rights were being trampled upon and responded with a lawsuit. Berkeley ended up reversing course and lifting the ban on Coulter, possibly recognizing that they faced a tough uphill legal battle. Regardless, the damage was already done and the controversial pundit pulled herself out.
Ann Coulter is making the wrong choice. To be honest, I probably don’t want to hear anything she has to say, and I feel the resources spent to bring her out could probably be put to better use. But once again, my personal opinions matter squat. By backing out Coulter could be encouraging more censorship-by-protests in the future.
There’s been a disturbing surge in anti-free speech sentiments over the past few years that seems to be growing instead of simmering or encouraging national debate. Whether this is media spin or reality is hard to ascertain.
Throughout history both conservative and liberal groups have been guilty of censoring free speech. Currently, however, liberal universities and groups are snatching most of the headlines, and Berkeley has become the center of a liberal vs. conservative tussle over free speech rights.
Universities, especially publicly funded ones, should be bastions of free thought, debate, and discussion. Yes, such an environment will undoubtedly result in some students being exposed to ideas they’d rather not hear, but that’s part of the learning process.
Confronting ideas that we disagree with presents an opportunity for growth. Students can learn how to hone their own arguments, and challenge their own thoughts. Ultimately, this will produce sounder arguments with better reasoning to back them up, and students who are better able to grapple with complex issues and problems.
