I used to think it was dumb to even let that guy speak at our school back in 2019. Seemed like he was just stirring up drama. But I worked on a group project with a grad TA in my IR class who went to his talk, and she explained how she debunked half his claims in real time using stats on her phone. Said it actually made her think harder about her own arguments. Changed my mind a bit. Anyone else have a similar shift about a controversial speaker?
Last semester my school brought in Charles Murray (the Bell Curve guy, right?) and I went in ready to shout him down. I had my talking points memorized from a Twitter thread, didn't even read his book. Halfway through his Q&A, a girl from the audience asked about his data on intelligence testing and he actually paused and said 'that's a fair critique, I should address that.' It hit me that I had never given him a chance to explain himself. I was so busy protecting my beliefs that I forgot what free speech is supposed to look like on campus. Has anyone else gone to a speaker they hated and changed their mind about hearing them out?
I used to think banning a speaker was always bad, no matter what. Then my school canceled a guy who said undocumented students should be deported, and I felt relieved. That's when it hit me that free speech doesn't mean you have to platform hate speech, especially when it targets half your campus. Does protecting students from harmful rhetoric outweigh the principle of letting anyone speak? I'm curious where you all draw that line.
My university invited a conservative commentator last semester and the administration let the protestors shut it down, but a left-leaning activist got full security and a backup venue. The difference was the dean claimed the first was a 'safety risk' but the second was 'academic freedom' in action. How do we stop schools from picking and choosing which speech they defend?
Went to a small state college in Ohio last month. They had a guy who openly called for violence against a specific ethnic group. The school blocked him. Some students were screaming about censorship. But honestly, sometimes you draw a line. Has anyone else seen a ban that felt necessary instead of political?
I used to get into online debates about campus speakers all the time, always assuming the other side just wanted to silence opinions. Then a poli-sci professor at my old school pointed out I had never actually read the full transcripts of three talks I was defending. That was five years ago and I still remember how dumb I felt.
Last semester at my college in Ohio, they invited this historian who's known for saying the Holocaust never happened. I sat in the back to see what would happen, and maybe 20 out of 200 people actually clapped for him. But the worse part? A kid next to me whispered "he's got a point" during the Q&A. That's when it hit me: giving a platform to hate speakers doesn't just test free speech, it validates their garbage for people who are already on the fence. Has anyone else seen an invite backfire like this where it actually radicalized students instead of just offending them?
So last semester this one prof in the poli sci department kept booking guys who talk about lizard people and 9/11 being an inside job. Three of us students filed a formal complaint and it took administration 8 weeks to even respond. They finally said he can still invite whoever he wants as long as there's a disclaimer. Has anyone else had their free speech rights totally ignored by their own school admin?
I was reading about Charles Murray getting shouted down at Middlebury in 2017 and it got me thinking. I actually had a buddy who was there as a student, and he told me the whole thing felt like a circus from the start. He said the protestors were so loud you couldn't hear a word Murray said, and then someone actually grabbed a professor by the neck during the scuffle afterwards. My buddy ended up leaving early because he felt bad for the students who just wanted to hear the talk, even if they disagreed. It makes me wonder, at what point does a protest stop being free speech and start being straight up bullying? Has anyone else here had a speaker they wanted to see get blocked before they could even open their mouth?
Last semester at University of Texas, I sat in a department meeting where a professor literally said 'we should just not invite anyone who disagrees with our values.' I called him out and asked if he meant only liberal values counted. He got super defensive and said free speech is fine but 'hate speech' isn't protected. I pointed out that the Supreme Court has ruled otherwise multiple times. The whole room went silent and the chair just moved on. Has anyone else had a prof try to silence a speaker before the invite even goes out?
I run a small debate club at my college and last semester I pushed to invite a speaker who had been banned from another school nearby. The administration gave us a ton of pushback and said it would cause chaos. We went ahead with it anyway but set clear ground rules for the Q&A and had a neutral moderator. The event actually went smooth, only like 10 people walked out, and the discussion afterwards was really productive. Has anyone else had luck getting a banned speaker to come talk without things blowing up?
My daughter goes to a small college in Ohio. She told me last month they uninvited a conservative commentator because of some old tweets. I looked it up, nothing illegal just stuff people didn't agree with. The school said it was about "campus safety" but there were no threats. I told my daughter I thought that was weak. She got mad and said I didn't get how words hurt people. We went back and forth for 20 minutes on the phone. Ended up agreeing to disagree but it stuck with me. Has anyone else had a family argument over this kind of thing?
I used to think any speaker ban was automatically bad, like no question about it. Then last semester my university announced Jordan Peterson was coming and the debate got super heated. I had to pick between signing the petition to cancel it or just letting him speak and ignoring it. I ended up not signing because I figured if people want to hear him that's their choice. Honestly the event itself was fine, like 200 people showed up and nobody even protested outside. But the whole thing made me realize it's not always black and white and sometimes letting someone speak just gives them free advertising. Has anyone else changed their mind after an actual event happened on their campus?
I was sitting third row when a girl ran on stage and grabbed the mic before security moved, and now I always check the event's security plan before buying tickets to any campus talk.
I was digging through old campus newspaper archives for a history project, and I stumbled on a 2004 article about how Penn State blocked a Planned Parenthood rep from speaking at a student event. I always thought this free speech stuff was a recent fight, but it's been going on way longer than I realized. The article said the administration cited 'safety concerns' but the student group had already hosted similar events without issues. Has anyone else found old controversies at their school that got buried over time?
I was grabbing breakfast and overheard two people arguing about Dr. John Smith getting uninvited from UNLV last spring after some student group complained about his views on immigration. One guy said the school was protecting students from hate speech, the other said it was straight up censorship. It got me thinking - where do we draw the line when a speaker hasn't broken any laws, just offended some people? Has anyone else seen this kind of situation play out at their local college?
I was in the auditorium at Ohio State last week. 50 students showed up for a debate on campus hate speech rules. Dean walks in and says it's off because 'tensions are high.' Just let us talk it out. Has anyone else had their event shut down without warning?
Our student government invited John Smith last year for a free speech forum and the admin shut it down. Then they tried to reschedule him for this spring and got blocked again. Third time was the charm though - he spoke last Thursday in a small lecture hall with about 60 people there. No protests, no drama, just a Q&A that actually got into policy differences. Has anyone else seen a campus reverse course on a speaker ban?
I went to the Milo event at Berkeley in 2017 thinking it'd be a interesting free speech test. But honestly, the whole thing felt more like a circus than a real debate - protesters were screaming outside and inside people were just there for the drama. I learned that when a speaker is invited mainly to provoke, it drowns out any actual conversation about ideas. Has anyone else been to one of these hype-driven campus events and felt like the message got lost in the noise?
I was sitting in a sociology class at Community College of Denver two years ago. The invited speaker was a former BLM organizer. Professor stood up and yelled that she was 'taking money from white donors' right there in front of 80 students. Half the class walked out. I stayed and recorded the rest. Dean later suspended the professor for a semester. Has anyone else seen a faculty member straight up attack a guest speaker?
Back in 2018 at UMass Amherst. Professor in my department brought in this guy who wrote for some alt-right blog. I argued hard for free speech. Told my friends they were being snowflakes. Said the whole point of college was hearing different views. Then I actually went to the Q&A. Watched this dude pick out the only Black kid in the room and ask him if he felt 'genetically inferior.' Just dead silence. Kid had to leave. Cried in the hallway. I still believe in free speech but I realized I was defending the abstract idea. Not the real damage. That night I couldnt sleep. Just kept thinking about how I was more worried about looking principled than about the actual person in the room. Anybody else defend a speaker they later regretted defending?
Found a report from FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) that broke down speaker fees. Turns out the most expensive ones arent even the far right guys. Ben Shapiro got like $50k but some corporate diversity speakers pull in $100k+. The wild part is that schools with the most protests often pay the most. My school spent $15k on a speaker last semester then had to spend another $8k on security. Does your college release the numbers on what they pay?
At Ohio State last semester I went to see a conservative commentator speak. Before he even got to the podium a girl screamed "you're not welcome here" and the organizers just ended it. I stood up and told them to let him talk since we all paid to be there. They called security on me instead of the person who yelled. Has anyone else seen a whole event get killed by one loud person?