This Year: Free Speech on Campus

Published April 15, 2008

By Max Bookman

Our society has still yet to come to a consensus on the boundaries of free speech. Sure, we are all for freedom of expression, but there are some conditions. We know the limits. We agree that we can’t shout “fire!” in a crowded movie theater. We cannot say things that are treasonous, or hateful, or purposefully untrue.

But the edges are fuzzy, and there is constant debate over what’s in the free speech club and what’s not. For example, some argue that they have every right to hate whomever they want, and therefore the government should not step in when a swastika is graffitied on a temple door. When the anti-gay marriage group VMAC was invited to hold a conference in our student center a few months ago, there were plenty (including The Water Tower) who spoke against their speaking here. Total free speech? Yes, but not in our backyard.

Speaking of our backyard, the valiant activists (or self-righteous hippies, depending on whom you’re talking to), down at Tent City ran into a little free speech quagmire of their own last week. The Student Labor Action Project, SLAP, was denied permission to continue protesting for livable wages for longer than school policy allowed. So instead of packing their tents and going home to the comfort of their nice warm beds, SLAP got their sister club, the slightly-less grungy but totally more pissed-off Students Against War to take the mantle of Tent City, thereby circumventing the rules. Well, the school administration, imaginably fed-up with a socially conscious shantytown in the middle of campus in the midst of April admitted students days, wanted none of that. Word arrived from Waterman decreeing that if SAW was to take over Tent City, there could be no talk of livable wages whatsoever.

Free speech violation? Well, it sure seemed that way. Voices cracked, signs were made, “wivable lages” was invented, and American Civil Liberties Union involvement was brought up. Eventually, the administration must have chosen the lesser of two evils by realizing that squashing student free speech makes worse publicity than the small but vocal cries coming from Tent City for school employees to get paid a decent salary (and for UVM to stop investing money in companies that profit from the Iraq war. And to remove the public showers from the Davis Center because it makes the generalization that students at UVM should shower regularly). The school backed down, and the Livable Wages Now banners went back up.

But last week’s Tent City saga highlights the larger issue with free speech on campus: nobody seems to care. Okay, well maybe that’s a little strong. But for every person who passed Tent City and said, “Wow, it’s not right for the school to infringe upon their freedom to speak,” there were three people who wondered “I think they just needed an excuse to live in the dirt for a week.” Our generation has taken apathy to a new level, and we’re proud to not talk about it. Ever.

Sunday is April 20th, the day when college undergrads gather in hordes to express their appreciation for reflective sunglasses, Roto-V, incense, The Grateful Dead, and Tostitos Lime Corn Chips (so good). UVM’s finest will all be sure to skip Sunday services to patrol campus all day long, looking for rowdy 4/20 revelers. Remember, freedom of expression does not cover ripping bowls on CBW green.

All things considered, our generation, especially we at UVM, must remember that in order to exercise free speech, we must have something to say. But more and more frequently, it is clear that our generation has very little to say. We could exercise our First Amendment rights to accomplish whatever we want. Perhaps if we cut down on the 4/20 celebrating, we might actually remember what we wanted.

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