Headlines across the country have been full of freedom of speech concerns over the past few weeks. Most notoriously, the situation at the University of Oklahoma with Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
On March 9, the day after the video was released, OU’s President David Boren acted swiftly–knocking the fraternity off campus, closing down its campus house, and halting its affiliation with the university.
Two SAE members were expelled from the University, and people began questioning their right to freedom of expression. An ethical dilemma of sort has arose and many believe the students expelled would indeed win in a court of law if they sued the university. But is that just ?
Is freedom of speech sacred when it comes to speech such as this? That’s the question people are asking.
Longwood
At Longwood a similar, but also very different situation arose on the exact same day.
In Curry Hall, a residence hall totally incumbent of freshman, one of the bulletin boards of the sixth floor was decorated asking students to express themselves–voice any concerns they had, and raise awareness of any issues.
When students arrived back on campus after spring break, there were multiple racially derogatory comments on the board.
Longwood Police immediately opened an investigation into the incident, and according to the 2014-2015 Longwood student handbook, students would be disciplined for such statements. But a lot of people might agree that they shouldn’t be, and if they were, would they be able to overturn a decision based strictly on their first amendment rights?
Contrasting of situations
One of the most prevalent contrasts between the two issues is that at OU, the students were in a comfortable area, (so they thought) that was constricted (so they thought) and around friends (so they thought). They probably didn’t expect to be on a video that circulated the country, much less have their faces attached to the statements they were making.
The Longwood situation is different in this aspect. Whoever chose to write the bulletin board remarks, did it in a public forum for everyone to see. But they also probably realized they would never have to show their face because they did it anonymously and there are no security cameras on any Curry floor.
Going forward
Now we want to hear from you. What do you think? Should students in either situation be expelled from school if they are found guilty of hate speech? Is their right to derogatory speech protected by the first amendment?
Also, post your comments and thoughts on Facebook at Longwood University Communication Studies and Twitter @LU_COMM.
Remember, we are Comm studies, and this is what we do.