Free Speech on Campus

The Foley Institute hosted Howard Gillman, from UC’s Irvine campus, to share his experience with university demonstrations and talk about his new book, “Free Speech on Campus.” He recalled the treatment of protesters the first time Milo Yiannopoulos, a former senior Breitbart editor and conservative provocateur, spoke at the campus. People walked up to the protesters with pacifiers, calling them liberal snowflakes. Howard Gillman is a leading constitutional scholar and chancellor of the University of California, Irvine.

Gillman said one of the reasons this has become such an issue in the current generation is the fact that social media has allowed people to connect more than ever. He referenced social media later in his speech when he discussed the time and place for saying things. He discussed the ethics of what campuses can and cannot allow students to say. For example, it is illegal for a university to pass hate speech codes, and all that have tried have been overturned.

WSU student activists staged a sit-in in the French Administration building in August, where their demands for campus reform included the university defining and combating hate speech. While it may seem destructive to afford prejudiced speech the same rights, Gillman said, allowing everyone to express their views has its benefits.