What does freedom of speech mean to a university setting?

Adlai E. Stevenson once said, “The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum.” While the United States still denounces the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 in China when more than one hundred thousand students tried to exercise their freedom of speech that every human being deserves and be stopped by authorities, America is gradually leaning towards that side. In Human Events, it reports, “Few years ago, two editors of the Harvard Business School student newspaper were reprimanded for publishing a cartoon in which they used the term “morons” to criticize the school’s computer system.” That certainly is just one of the hundreds of thousands of incidents that have occurred in universities all over the nation, as they claimed it was for the protection of the ones that might feel offended; however, to many free speech activists, they are just examples of how the right Americans used to be proud of, used to hold against other undemocratic countries, and used to make this country the greatest, is slowly fading away. Where is the end of this? Is it when free speech is taken away from each and every individual? Where is the tolerance Americans fought for? Did Americans forget the reason why the Statue of Liberty is the unchangeable symbol of all the freedoms a citizen is granted today? While political correctness has gone beyond the original purpose of prohibiting racial slangs and hate speech, it has become the devil’s grip on campuses all around the country. As devastating as it is, political correctness and established university speech codes have invaded individual’s personal freedom and raised questions among the public, the press, and the students; for instance, the right to free speech, the twisted tolerance, and the slowly extinct open discussion in college classrooms.

The First Amendment stated, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, or to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Over the years, freedom of speech has always been one of the things Americans have taken pride in, but unfortunately this right has been challenged since the time when it was granted to all of the citizens. One of the most recent and most famous incidents regarding freedom of speech is the University of Florida Taser Incident. It took place in Senator John Kerry’s Constitution Day Forum, which was organized by an agency of the student government. The heat was set off when a third-year journalist from the college newspaper, Andrew Meyer, asked if Senator Kerry supported the possible impeachment of former President George W. Bush, and whether Kerry was a member of secret society Skull and Bones or not. While Meyer was listing why President Bush should be impeached and one of the reasons was former President Bill Clinton was so as investigations led to the fact that he received oral sex from a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, his microphone was cut off. However, that did not stop Andrew Meyer from exercising his freedom of speech, as he continued asking whether Senator Kerry engaged in Skull and Bones membership. Before Kerry could answer Andrew Meyer’s questions, police officers began to seize him and tase him as he was struggling to break through the police’s force. The criticism of this incident is not about a college student could not think of a better word to replace “oral sex” in an open forum when a highly-respected political figure was standing on the stage, whether or not Andrew Meyer was too straightforward, or if he picked the wrong questions to ask. When the college journalist innocently brought up a topic that is comfortable in a slight way, he was seized by force. What if he was just asking Senator John Kerry what his goals would be if he became the President? What if he was not asking about the secret society Skull and Bones? Obviously, the situation would have been completely different, and a scene would not be made in front of a presidential candidate and the rest of the world. On the other hand, this incident raised a very considerable question at the same time – what kind of message is the university sending to their students and students all over the country? Should we all be afraid to ask controversial or hot-topic questions from now on just because it is not politically correct? It is true that there is always a bottom line in freedom of speech, such as falsely accusing a person, giving hate speech, making racial comments, and so on; however, all Americans should stop and think about this question – did Andrew Meyer stop across the line? As far as what the news reported and videos regarding this incident that have been posted on the internet, Meyer’s questions were clearly legitimate and his right to free speech was undoubtedly denied by the student government or University of Florida. Is this the future of American higher education? What are colleges actually encouraging the students to do?