Controversy Surrounding USC Valedictorian and Commencement Cancellations

Host Nico Perrino joins his FIRE colleagues Will Creeley and Alex Morey to answer questions about the recent campus unrest and its First Amendment implications. 

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction 

0:41 What is FIRE?/campus unrest

5:44 What are the basic First Amendment principles for campus protest?

11:30 Student encampments 

18:09 Exceptions to the First Amendment

29:01 Can administrators limit access to non-students/faculty?

34:13 Denying recognition to Students for Justice in Palestine

36:26 Were protesters at UT Austin doing anything illegal?

40:54 The USC valedictorian 

45:09 What does “objectively offensive” mean? / Does Davis apply to colleges?

46:55 Is it illegal to protest too loudly?

50:03 What options do colleges have to moderate/address hate speech?

54:20 Does calling for genocide constitute bullying/harassment?

59:09 Wrapping up on the situation 

Show Notes

“USC canceling valedictorian’s commencement speech looks like calculated censorship,” Alex Morey

“Emerson College: Conservative Student Group Investigated for Distributing ‘China Kinda Sus’ Stickers,” FIRE’s case files

“HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not Censorship,” Nadine Strossen

“Defending My Enemy: American Nazis, the Skokie Case, and the Risks of Freedom,” Aryeh Neier (pdf)

“David Goldberger, lead attorney in ‘the Skokie case,’” “So to Speak” Ep. 118

Transcript