Episode 41 Free Speech, Hate Speech & Equal Protection on Campus: Challenges & Obligations in Higher Ed

This episode features the third of three public dialogues held specifically for the show at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE), last month in New Orleans. In this conversation, I’ll speak with educators and advocates, David Pilgrim, Michael Benitez and Loretta Ross – whose bios will be presented in the program itself – about the challenges facing college campuses when it comes to balancing the right to free speech (even for those espousing ideas that are racist, homophobic, sexist or in other ways hurtful) with the rights of equal protection for all students, especially those targeted by hateful or prejudicial speech. What can campuses do to ensure the free and open exchange of ideas while at the same time ensuring civility and promoting an equitable and just community where all students can feel respected and safe? Are there lines campuses can draw between speech that is protected and that which is disallowed? If so, how do we determine those lines? Does the notion of free speech obligate campuses to provide platforms for any and all speakers, even when their views violate the stated mission and principles of the institution itself? And putting aside actual restrictions on certain speech acts, what actions can institutions of higher learning take, proactively, to minimize the damage of hateful activity on campuses and create environments that are conducive to learning and community engagement?