Protecting Free Speech On College Campuses

You know it's really much easier to deposit young people of their rights when they don't know what they're right or not you were saying that the thing concerns me. This is family policy with NC family Pres. John Weston thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters today were to discuss the current state of free speech on college and university campuses as well as efforts being made to protect the First Amendment rights of students, faculty and other staff to free speech. Our guest today is Dr. Mike Adams or criminology professor at UNC Wilmington and nationally syndicated columnist for Townhall.com.

Dr. Adams is recognized as an outspoken critic of the diversity movement on college campuses and the resulting limitations. Those policies and that movement is placing on free speech, no stranger to this issue. Dr. Adams endured a successful seven year legal battle after UNC Wilmington did not him a promotion in 2006 because of his conservative views. Despite his position as a tenured professor, Dr. Mike Adams. Welcome to family policy matters.

It's great to have you back on the show and thank you so much for having well it's our pleasure.

Now Dr. Adams recently we've heard about speakers being shouted down or even prohibited from visiting and speaking on college and university campuses across the country and also about students receiving lower grades for speaking or writing from a conservative viewpoint in their classes on your extensive experience or these occurrences, outliers, or are they really becoming the norm these days will outliers know the problem of free speech in higher education and the accompanying political by the slant and we can't disconnect the by the way, we only have a free speech problem on our campus because the professoriate is dominated by love the fact that an issue for 75 years, probably on our college campuses but it has gotten worse in recent years because professors are increasingly not liberal and we talk about liberal bias in higher education but liberalism presupposes some level of tolerance.

These professors are now being replaced by leftist who are essentially coming from a postmodernist perspective, believed that light don't belong to individuals, but instead belong to groups.

That's where the whole speech code problem comes from is this idea do we have to protect certain groups from offensive speech that might marginalize them in all of this is happening out this this radical change in worldview. The professoriate has caused the problem to get significantly worse in recent years a lot of focus on what happens in the college classroom with films such as God's not dead, but really, to be honest with you. The big change in recent years has been that it spread far beyond the classroom to the general administration where student groups, Christian groups, for example, can't even walk around on campus and pass out pamphlets and even political groups came to pass out copies of the Constitution because their spring up things like speech zones of speech codes and things of that nature. So it is clearly a problem with getting worse not better. Well, and we've certainly seen a recent case like that in NC State University of the college Christian organization that was not allow the same rights as other similarly situated organizations to even walk up and have a conversational student it's just amazing.

The very idea that you have a permit to share the gospel on college campus know the Constitution is my speech Barb right right swelling like we see in response to some of these protests in these activities that some campuses say that they cancel or prohibit certain speakers will events because of safety concerns. How should the legitimate concerns about safety of students, faculty and other staff be balanced with ensuring a free marketplace for the exchange of ideas on college and university campuses.

We just need to understand that when a university administration process that there canceling speech because they have safety concerns that they are all half a root beer tea. Let me explain why. In recent years there's been a false statistic out there that is been suggested that sexual assault has gone up by 50% on our college campuses that the false statistic that been created by changes in reporting practices mandated by the Obama administration but because the statistics are out there parents constantly call universities and say hey.

Is this a safe place for me to send my daughter and they always reassure them know we can create a safe campus environment will have safety problems and we can control the campus sexual assault problem, really.

You can police that across campus, but you can't handle a crowd and an isolated speech. No, of course, they can easily thinking it will be situations if they simply enforce the law, like the North Carolina House of Representatives just passed a bill to help preserve free speech on college and university campuses. House Bill 527 and now that Bill was awaiting consideration by the North Carolina Senate if not good. What exactly would this bill do to help address these problems that we've been discussing what you we we have already dealt with a couple of very serious problems in higher education through legislation. One is the problem of due process in getting students right to counsel others religious liberty and autonomy of student groups which which really is a First Amendment issue. The two remaining issues that we haven't dealt with all the problem of speech zones which suggest that only a small area of the Estate 1% in some cases is a place we can engage in free speech and the other is speech codes which say that in those limited areas where you engage in free speech you not allowed to engage in offensive speech of John we all know that offensive speech is just whatever someone decides whenever someone decides to be offended. They are strictly trying to issue a heckler's veto and shutdown someone speech we all know what dangerous dangerous concept that is and that has been dealt with. So HB 527 deals with those two issues of speech sounds and speech codes so I think it's a very good measure. I'm glad were finally doing your listening policy matters a resource to listen to our radio show online resources have a place of persuasion in your community website family.org.

Mike is a professor in a relatively large public university setting for decades now. What kind of progression do you typically see in the attitudes and mindsets of students say when they arrive on campus versus when they leave campus. I definitely have seen a change. You know you got the general problem that they just they just change the general they lose a Christian worldview when they come to college campus because the churches really are teaching it these days we got this big moral game ship that goes on and that's really not unrelated to their changes on the issue of free speech coming say that you abandoned the Christian worldview and you adopt for this postmodern view of the world that that sees the truth as being short of this arbitrary function of the struggles between competing groups out there and then you begin to accept the idea of speech codes because they empower certain groups that had been previously disenfranchised. This is dangerous. You will definitely see this happening with kids these days one I do in the classroom and asked them questions about freedom of expression and no sugar. Certain idea be allowed.

They will sit there and talk about the idea of having to pay on eight speech they could legitimately accept that hate speech is not protected by the Constitution. Well then you actually proceed to ask them to define hate speech and they can't do what they increasingly simply trust the University to define what hate speech is for them and that is dangerous. You know it's real, it's much easier to deprive young people of their rights when they don't know what their rights are not shipped but were saying and that's the thing that concerns me. I'm working on all these initiatives to preserve their rights and it's like I'm I'm trying to hand them their rights they're looking at me and sticking her hand out and say no no no, we don't want them would rather just be comfortable. Well that is a concern. You mentioned before, the foundation for individual rights in education will fire. They do a rating system of free speech on college campuses and have recognized three universities in North Carolina that have earned their highest greenlight ranking for upholding free speech on campus but other than UNC Chapel Hill UNC Greensboro North Carolina Central University, which are the three most of our college and universities are given the middle ground yellow light writing. Why is that and what are some ways that we can work to change it while HB 527 is really gonna take care of it for us. It really is cause them to relinquish certain policies and and why is the case that we have this lack of uniformity. I'll just say it and it sounds really harsh, but I consider to be the incompetence of the eulogy General Counsel office inexcusable and I'll explain.

I understand that very harsh language but let me provide an example after the alpha Iota Omega loss took place a number of years ago you murdered that case when a Christian organization at UNC Chapel Hill was being forced to admit non-Christian right as voting members and as officers they had to go through and when a federal injunction in Greensboro and six months after the one that federal lawsuit.

When the fire did its very first report that was actually the fall 2005 on speech codes and freedom of association.

They found out that there he was 16 at the time UNC schools still had the same policy that Got alpha Iota Omega basically got in that injunction and that got UNC Chapel Hill suit.

It really raises the question what does UNC General Counsel do other than go to the legislature in the lobby against things like HB 527 it's their job to go and avoid lawsuits by getting rid of policies that have gotten university student before they should've done exactly the same thing on on the issue of speech codes as well. So there should be more of uniformity circles right back around HB 527 it will impose that uniformity just as the religious liberty bill. That was passed back in July 2014. You guys were part of that effort along with the fire and with the block foundation and look at what happened. A lot of people looking to but we got the Constitution so we don't need a state law. Well I don't know.

Take a look at what happened in the wake of that state law will have a problem with freedom of association anymore on our campuses because it imposed that uniformity and so that's why we don't to the legislature again and so that really the short answer. I guess that was in the short answer, but the reason we have this chaos is that we have an administration that been inattentive to be efficient, Mike. What can parents and college students do if they find themselves in a situation where they believe their their right to free speech is been in principle while I do believe that first of all, it's very important for students when they didn't free speech controversies on campus to turn organizations like the foundation for individual rights in education the lines depending freedom Center for academic freedom as well, but also they should keep their parents informed in the process and have their parents write directly to the administration including to the Chancellor, I've actually seen that be effective on our campus. The angry parent rights to the Chancellor actually can be very effective and parents definitely need to be involved in their kids education� Actually and often overlooked step in the process without. I want to challenge your listeners. If you do hear of instances or experience. These results don't just sit idly by and let these things happen.

Challenge them reach out to these organizations that that Mike Adams has mentioned contact family policy Council and let us know how we can help and we will certainly work if we can't help to resolve the issue directly. We will point you in the direction of of folks that can like. In addition to parents and college students. Clearly we have alumni of many of our institutions of higher learning that our listeners and supporters of the family policy Council and who live in the state and who would be concerned about these things, what can they do as alarms of colleges and universities in North Carolina to have an impact on this very important matter. I think that alarms of all of these organizations are shipped all of these universities across North Carolina but don't greenlight ratings actually should withhold their donations.

For example, this episode that occurred last summer at NC State where Grace Christian was required to have a permit and they were told after the got a permit that they had to sit behind the table and they couldn't wander around the union to share the gospel with people after they already had evidence that secular groups had not been given the same restrictions. Basically, the University was caught and they decided to fight and litigate the issue and they ended up wasting a lot of taxpayer money before they were defeated in court, but ultimately the real message that it stands is that we can only win if we find that if we fight we can land without Dr. Mike Adams, I will thank you so much for being with us on family policy matters all for your great insights and your tireless efforts to ensure free-speech rights for students, faculty and other staff on college and university campus traffic policy matter production NC family to listen to our radio show online enter more valuable resources and information about issues important to families in North Carolina website family.org follow us on Twitter and Facebook