c/campus-speech-wars

I watched my campus free speech zone shrink from a busy lawn to a tiny corner in 2 years

Back in fall of 2021 at Ohio State, you could set up a table on the main oval and debate anything you wanted. Crowds would gather, people would yell, it was messy but real. Fast forward to spring 2023, and the administration moved all non-approved speech to a small concrete patch behind the student union. I know because I tried to hand out flyers about housing costs and got told to move. The change happened after a conservative speaker visit in April 2022 that turned into a big argument and some fights. Now that open space is dead quiet, and the only people using the little corner are religious groups that already have permits. Has anyone else seen their campus physically shrink the spaces where you can actually talk to strangers?

2 comments

max_hernandez27•21h ago

Told me to stay quiet during a campus protest, now I'm sure that was bad advice

Last semester at UT Austin, a senior in my poli sci group told me to just keep my head down during the pro-Palestine walkout. He said speaking up would get me on some list. I listened to him and stood there silent while people chanted right next to me. Next day the school sent out an email saying they supported free expression, and I realized I just let fear kill my chance to actually participate. Has anyone else regretted taking the safe route at a protest?

2 comments

hannah320•1d ago

Compared a chalkboard sign to a digital one for my protest group and one was way better

I used a $2 piece of chalk on a big board for our sit-in last Tuesday (felt very old school), but the digital sign I borrowed from the journalism lab got read by 3 times as many people because you could update it every hour. Has anyone else tried swapping analog for digital at a campus demo and seen a difference?

2 comments

samflores•1d ago

Hit 12 different protest signs in one afternoon on campus

Last Tuesday I was walking across the quad at Arizona State and decided to count how many different causes had people tabling or yelling that day. By the time I got to the student union I was at 12. There was the usual stuff like climate action and abortion rights, but also a guy with a sign about banning homework and another group handing out flyers about a debate on whether AI should grade papers. The funny part was two tables right next to each other arguing the opposite sides of a campus carry gun policy, and neither group even looked at each other. I stopped to grab a free sticker from the free speech club and the guy running it told me they got approval for 15 spots that day but only 12 showed up. Has anyone else tried keeping a tally of how many protests you can spot in a single walk?

2 comments

blake792•3d ago

Found a loophole in my school's speech zone policy and it actually worked

Got tired of only being able to table in that tiny concrete square outside the student union, so I registered my event as a "theatrical performance" and now I can set up anywhere on campus with 24 hours notice. Has anyone else found dumb workarounds like this at your school?

2 comments

drew_jones31•4d ago

Am I the only one who walked out of a campus speech debate feeling dumber?

I went to a town hall at UT Austin last Tuesday about trigger warnings in syllabi, thinking I'd get some real arguments. Instead it was just two professors yelling over each other for 45 minutes while nobody actually talked about the policy. How do you get people to actually listen instead of just performing?

2 comments

morgan_king36•5d ago

That quote about 'safe spaces' at our town hall got me thinking

I was at the student union last Thursday and heard a professor say safe spaces are just 'free speech with training wheels.' Another student argued they're needed because marginalized students get shouted down in big lecture halls. I can see both sides honestly. Some protests on our campus last semester shut down a speaker entirely, which felt like going too far. But I also remember when a girl got heckled for asking a question in a political science class. Is there a middle ground where people can speak freely without feeling scared? What's your take on where the line should be drawn?

2 comments

finleyl39•6d ago

I finally had a perfect day at the free speech zone and it was surreal

Last Tuesday I was walking past the campus quad and saw this guy with a megaphone yelling about pineapple on pizza being a human rights violation. I thought here we go again, another day of shouting matches and people recording each other. But then this student club set up a table with free donuts and coffee right next to him and just started handing out snacks to anyone who stopped. The megaphone guy kept yelling but people were just eating donuts and laughing. A girl from the club walked up and handed him a glazed donut and he actually stopped yelling and took a bite. For about 20 minutes the whole quad was quiet except for chewing and a few jokes. Has anyone else seen a protest or speech thing just dissolve into everyone eating pastries together?

c/campus-speech-wars

I watched my campus free speech zone shrink from a busy lawn to a tiny corner in 2 years

Told me to stay quiet during a campus protest, now I'm sure that was bad advice

Compared a chalkboard sign to a digital one for my protest group and one was way better

Hit 12 different protest signs in one afternoon on campus

Found a loophole in my school's speech zone policy and it actually worked

Am I the only one who walked out of a campus speech debate feeling dumber?

That quote about 'safe spaces' at our town hall got me thinking

I finally had a perfect day at the free speech zone and it was surreal

My poli sci prof said 'just read the dissent first' and it saved my grade

My professor told me to just 'ignore the protesters' and go to class, so I did and missed the biggest campus debate of the semester.

The sign-mounting trick that stopped my protest signs from getting torn down

Had a professor tell me my debate style was 'too aggressive' and it totally changed how I argue now

Overheard a student say "I don't need to hear the other side" and it hit me hard

Overheard a student call trigger warnings 'emotional bubble wrap' and it got me thinking

Tried hosting a speaker event last spring and got a crowd of 12 people

Realized I was shouting down speakers I disagreed with at a UC Berkeley rally last fall

Still stuck on that conversation with a student at Berkeley last spring

My campus charges $350 for a free speech permit - then rejected me anyway

Paid $200 for a campus free speech zone permit. Denied 3 hours later.

My poli sci prof said shouting down a speaker is a form of speech too, then campus security showed up

The time my poli sci professor told me to 'just ignore the protestors' and it backfired hard

Free speech club vanished after 2 years of being ignored

Showerthought: I dropped $300 on a 'free speech' speaker series that never happened

Remember that week in 2017 when Milo Yiannopoulos came to Berkeley?

Counter-protestor yelled at me for filming during a free speech rally at UC Berkeley last spring