In March 2023, a student group at the University at Buffalo invited a speaker to campus who regularly espouses inflammatory rhetoric. Outraged and saddened by the speaker’s views, the campus community asked the administration to revoke the invitation. The administration responded with the following statement: “First, let me state unequivocally what I hope is patently clear to all members of our university community: Hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric is an affront to everything our community embraces. . . At the same time, as a public university, we must support the constitutionally protected democratic principles of the First Amendment. The First Amendment to the Constitution protects speech no matter how noxious the content.” (Tripathi, 2023). The speaker’s presentation was met with student and local community protests (Hodge et al., 2023).

Similar issues have arisen at academic institutions across the country. This post shares links to a number of these incidents in an attempt to describe the breadth of current free speech issues on campus. Additionally, a few informative articles regarding free speech are listed in the bibliography below.

Please note that some of the articles may be behind a subscription. If that is the case, please use your university or public library to locate a copy for free.

“A Better Way to Protect Free Speech on Campus.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 Jan. 2023.

Belkin, Douglas. “Stanford Faculty Say Anonymous Student Bias Reports Threaten Free Speech“. WSJ. 23 Feb. 2023.

Similar reporting systems have encountered pushback around the U.S.

Chappell, Bill. “Penn State Is about to Host the Proud Boys Founder, and Its Students Are Protesting.” NPR, 12 Oct. 2022. NPR.

Penn State is about to host the Proud Boys founder, and its students are protesting

“First Amendment News and Insights from MTSU.” The Free Speech Center, 2023.

“First Amendment Watch.” First Amendment Watch. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

Hodge, Kiana, et al. “‘This Is What Freedom Looks like’: Buffalo Community Protests Michael Knowles’ on-Campus Speech.” The Spectrum, 10 Mar. 2023.

Jones, Dave. “Statement on Oct. 25 Event Cancellation.” UC Davis, 26 Oct. 2022.

Lederman, Doug. “Dissecting the Campus Speech Problem (It’s Not What You Think).” Inside Higher Ed, July 28, 20222,.

Patel, Vimal. “UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired?” The New York Times, 13 Mar. 2023. NYTimes.com.

Amy Wax and free speech groups say the university is trampling on her academic freedom. Students ask whether her speech deserves to be protected.

“PEN Campus Free Speech Guide.” PEN America. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

Pitofsky, Marina. “Michigan Medical Students Walk out of Ceremony to Protest Anti-Abortion Keynote Speaker.” USA TODAY, 25 July 2022.

Tripathi, Satish K. “Tripathi Addresses Controversial Student Event.” UBNow, 7 Mar. 2023.

Amanda McCormick, University at Buffalo Libraries

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