Academia is against debate that doesn’t follow the narrative.
Via The College Fix:
A pair of Republican state lawmakers in Ohio seek to block university officials from disinviting speakers based on any potential negative reactions or protests the guests might prompt.
It’s one aspect of a Campus Free Speech Act that also aims to eliminate so-called free speech zones in an attempt to open up First Amendment activities campuswide.
Republican Reps. Wesley Goodman and Andrew Brenner announced the act in a press conference Tuesday at the Ohio statehouse. The lawmakers seek to protect the First Amendment rights of students at public universities across the state as well as promote and protect intellectual diversity.
The act, expected to be introduced in the Ohio House in coming weeks, aims to prohibit administrators from taking action “that limits or chills the expression of any member of the campus community or their invited guests based on the content of the expression,” according to a news release from Goodman.
It would prevent “heckler’s vetoes” by “prohibiting universities from disinviting speakers based on the potential reaction, opposition, offense, or irritation taken to that speaker’s expression,” it adds.
“Americans are growing increasingly concerned about the level of openness of debate on Ohio’s college campuses,” Rep. Goodman told The College Fix via e-mail. “People can only be truly free if they are allowed to think and speak their deeply held beliefs freely.”
Students would be permitted to bring a cause of action against an institution they believe is infringing on their free speech rights under the proposal.
“To give you an example, Ann Coulter is going to a college campus to give a speech and they just say, ‘OK, forget it. We’re not allowing her because we think it’s going to cause some issues,’” Brenner said during the press conference. “You can’t just say that.”