Freedom of expression, speech and the freedom to protest on campus were all discussed during the meeting on university governance on April 6. The UNC BOG was joined by North Carolina Senators Amy Gayle, Mike Woodard, Zack Hawkins and Jon Hardister led the discussion to a half-empty room at the University Center.
“Students should not be intimidated into voicing only opinions that are contested and held to being acceptable. Students should have the freedom to make mistakes… they should be able to practice their freedom of speech without fear of being recorded to the internet and having their lives ruined,” Gayle said.
Gayle pushed for campus safety being a prime consideration when fighting for the importance of freedom of speech on campuses.
Like Gayle, Senator Hawkins views college as a safe space for people to learn.
“Free speech is the freedom of expression, freedom of the ability to say what we like and not freedom of the consequence… Colleges are the last hope for free speech,” said Hawkins.
Sen. Hardister spoke on The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s ratings.
Campuses are given a green when they are committed to freedom of expression and facilitating discussions. A yellow rating means that the university is doing okay but can be better. A red rating marks the university as not committed to supporting free speech, expression and openness to discussion.
Western Carolina University holds a green ranking according to FIRE. Hardister said that no NC institutions have a red ranking. Thirteen institutions have a green rating and three are rated a yellow.
Gayle argues that protesting is an assertion of power when creating a disruption because the protestors are trying to exercise power over the listener as opposed to conversing with listeners.
When asked to define “disruptive” during the press conference, UNC System turned to his lawyer for the answer. The administration and BOG will not give a clear definition to students to what defines nondisruptive and disruptive.
According to the BOG, the administration is allowed to intervene and stop a protest if they see outside forces or violence. If a protest is disruptive or breaking the law, the administration has the means to cease the protest, however.
Senator Woodard said, “Trust the academy. Let the university be a university.” He encourages universities to be the place where new ideas challenge old ideas.
Gayle said, “you can’t be hurtful, you can’t be intentional you can’t insult, intimidate. The intent of the speaker I think is really important.”
Hawkins also said that people should be able to be okay with being corrected when wrong.
Hawkins said, “If we go and we are governing ourselves, on the things that we know, that those lines that we cannot cross, we can’t allow some to use the guides of free speech as a way to sort of rollback things that we know…”
