Free Speech on Campuses in Donald Trump’s America
As American citizens, First Amendment rights are expected to be heavily protected. But recently, the right to free speech has come into question, specifically, free speech on college and university campuses. There is a fine line that many colleges/universities walk when it comes to free speech. For example, the conservative viewpoint may be that conservative students are being stifled on campus because their political morals are not as inclusive as those of a liberal. Situations like these are taken case-by-case to determine what is protected and what is not. The Congressional Research Service (2019) states that hate speech, ‘fighting words,’ threats, etc. are listed as unprotected forms of speech, but what, or who, decides when it crosses that line is not clear. President Donald Trump (2019) made it a point to give an executive order that enforces free speech on campuses, claiming:
“Under the guise of ‘speech codes’ and ‘safe spaces’ and trigger warnings,’ these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity, and shut
down the voices of great young Americans like those here today.” This, in simpler terms, means President Trump claims that the overtly progressive nature of college/university campuses can actually suppress the free speech rights of students on campuses. Is this claim reliable? Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
To give more context to the subject, in March of 2019 President Trump gave an executive order on free speech in regard to campuses of higher education. He outlined that any campus receiving federal grants must ‘promote free inquiry.’ The order reiterates that the new provisions are to be used within existing laws and protections of the Constitution’s First Amendment. So are campuses truly prohibiting free speech with new codes, warnings, and safe spaces? To take a closer look at the discussion of speech codes, one must look at one of the earlier court cases, of many, that disputes them. In the case of Doe v. University of Michigan (1989)
References
Killion, V. L. (2019, January 16). The First Amendment: Categories of Speech. Retrieved March 7, 2020, from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF11072.pdf
Factbase. (2019 March 21). Remarks: Donald Trump Signs an Executive Order on Campus Free Speech. – March 21 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2020 from https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-free-campus-speech-freedom-march- 21-2019
Doe v. University of Michigan,