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Recently, many students have noticed that their walk to lunch in the Student Activities Center has become more congested at the base of the ramp. Odds are, there is a speaker standing there, and a throng of students listening or yelling back.
Last Wednesday, Oct. 28, there was a town hall forum in the Floyd Theater during lunchtime, regarding free speech on campus. Less than 20 students attended, and most sat silently, while an impassioned few voiced their opinions. Although turnout may not have been great, the fact that the Student Government Association decided to have a forum on free speech is telling.
There seems to be more speakers on campus this year than in recent memory. Many of these presenters are wielding signs, buttons and Bibles. Dale Ramsay, special project coordinator for the Dean of Students office, attributes the increase in speakers to an increasing interest from the student population.
“One thing that has become apparent is that our students are very passionate, and they enjoy engaging with these people,” Ramsay said. “The more you engage with them, the more they want to come back.”
Surely most students know this already. Parents know that the best defense against bad behavior is to ignore it completely. Yet, for whatever reason, students are having trouble just walking by the speakers.
Perhaps some students are genuinely intrigued by what’s being said, and maybe some students have had their minds changed. In years past, there was always a smattering of students standing around. But it seems that this year many are just there for the spectacle.
At the forum, one student complained that speakers with discriminatory content should be banned from campus. Fortunately, our nation’s founding fathers had more foresight. The University of Louisville is a public university, and its property should be accessible to everyone, no matter their perspective. The first amendment gives those speakers the freedom to say most anything they want, while it gives students the freedom to stop and listen, or to keep walking by.
The same student later complained that these speakers’ messages often run contrary to the messages the university endorses. Maybe so, but a university should be a forum of all ideas, discussed and debated civilly. While civility may be in short supply for some of our guests, students should not stoop to those levels.
When the Ku Klux Klan came to campus in 2004, the university developed the Speech and Literature Distribution policy. It is sound, and has been applied fairly. According to university officials, guests must request the space at least five days in advance, and the university decides who gets to use the space on each day. At no point is content considered. The university must give outsiders a space close to a high-trafficked area. In addition, officials cordon the space and station police officers if necessary.
While the town hall was unnecessary, and predictably drab, it was nice to have a dialogue about speech. Students should remember that the next time they see an outsider standing there, yelling offensive statements, the best response is just to keep walking to lunch. Stopping to engage them will only encourage them to come back. The sidewalks are already crowded enough.
