How protected should the First Amendment be on college campuses?

With recent events on campus, I have been faced with really thinking about this question: to what extent should the First Amendment be protected on college campuses? And in particular, to what extent should the First Amendment be protected here at CSB/SJU when hate crimes are involved?

The First Amendment states that each person has the freedom to say what they wish with no legal repercussions. However, there are exceptions. These exceptions can be generalized into incitement, fighting words, obscenity, defamation, commercial speech and cases in which freedom of speech is outweighed by a more compelling interest. Yet, for some reason unbeknownst to me, hate speech is not included. So why don’t we include hate speech as an exception?

In many cases, hate speech can offer worse repercussions to the victim than, for example, defamation. I would argue that freedom of speech is far outweighed by hate speech, as the last exception states. Herein lies a legal issue, one that cannot be tackled solely on our campus and by our community. So then, you may ask, what can we do?

Well, we can take a step back. Why do we even need to have this conversation? Why can’t some of us seem to realize the ways in which our words and actions affect others? Why do we even need to worry about drawing the line between freedom of speech and being discriminatory? Shouldn’t us college students be the ones standing side by side with one another, leading the fight toward a world free from discrimination and hate?

Just for a moment, let’s forget about the First Amendment. People on our campus are hurting. They have been hurt over and over again, and yet, over and over again we to fail to protect them. How many times do people need to be hurt in order for us to realize that there is a bigger issue at hand than protecting freedom of speech?

Frankly, I can’t comprehend why so many of us feel the need to disrespect others’ existence. It’s a lot easier to not participate in microaggressions and to not use hate filled speech than it is to put in the effort to be discriminatory. Let’s all mature a bit and realize we all deserve to be here and we all deserve to be treated with respect.

Here at CSB/SJU, we claim to be a community. What do you think of when you hear the word community? Hate and discrimination certainly isn’t a part of my definition, and it shouldn’t be a part of yours. If we truly want to cultivate a community, we need to stop choosing to be selfish. We must stop putting our right to say what we want over the right for people to feel safe and feel like they belong on campus. This has nothing to
do with your First Amendment rights and everything to do with your character.

So now what? How can each of us work toward a world where we don’t need to define the line between freedom of speech and hate speech? First, look at yourself. Look at the language you use and the decisions you make. Are you contributing to the problem by using discriminatory and micro aggressive words? Next, educate yourself: there are resources all around you.

Finally, use your education and your privilege to empower others and lift up underrepresented voices. Real change is happening in our world and on our campus this year. Don’t be on the wrong side of history.