The Coalition United for Free Speech (CUFFS) held a Free Speech Forum on April 16 in SU-214, and the room was packed with a variety of student interest groups. The forum addressed the ongoing issue of free speech rights and restrictions on the Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) campus. At an earlier Town Hall meeting, President Hahs had been invited to attend the forum by the leaders of CUFFS, to which she agreed only on the condition that she could be one of the speakers.
The forum began with John K. Wilson, five-time author and founder of CollegeFreedom.org, who spoke on the problems experienced by students on campuses all over the country in regards to their free speech rights. His main point was that campus policies which restrict free speech should be limited to the prevention of what is seriously disruptive.
Wilson went on to say that what is lacking in NEIU’s official policy on campus free speech is “a positive statement of human rights and protections that the students ought to have.” He referenced a 1967 coalition of faculty and student groups that listed a number of basic student rights and stated that our policy gives ” some vague allusions to the idea of free speech, but there’s no specific policies that are saying that the students have these rights.”
Next, Dr. Brett Stockdill of the Sociology Department gave a speech on student rights. He cited the struggle against slavery, for women’s suffrage and for civil rights, and of how if these actions hadn’t used disruptive techniques, he asked the audience, “where would we be in today’s society?” He also cited a Supreme Court case which ruled that, “inconveniencing does not extinguish the right of others to speak out, even if it creates a disturbance,” as well as another one that states that a student’s rights are not left behind him or her when they enter school property.
NEIU student and Air Force veteran Cassandra Shields-Cantú told her story of coming to school here, and of attending anti-war rallies, waiting for someone to criticize the troops. At one point she realized that the protestors really had nothing against her or any other veteran, and were only opposed to the horrors of war and the leaders who had started it all. She realized that, to her, the real crimes were the lack of health care for veterans, the money wasted and the casualties on both sides.
President Hahs then took the podium, and she laid out the main points of the administration. She outlined the values of the university, such as integrity, excellence and diversity and she made the connection between how these values line up with freedom of speech. She then spoke about how the largely Hispanic protest against a Homeland Security- Customs & Border Security agent’s recruitment speech on April 7 in the Student Union had clearly crossed the line with its disruptive behavior.
She spoke of the limitations on our First Amendment freedoms. “Freedom of speech isn’t freedom to be disruptive,” said Hahs.
Then she spoke directly to the student protest movement.
“Those who choose to be disruptive must be prepared to accept the consequences,” said Hahs. “This is what we call, it’s a long tradition in America, this is civil disobedience. And we mention Dr. Martin Luther King, think about his letter from the Birmingham jail. Where was it [written] from?” She also cited the courts, and their recognition of the regulation of freedom of speech on campus.
“Without rules, the exercise of freedom of speech is at the mercy of those who would disrupt it,” said Hahs.
Chris Poulos, spokesperson for CUFFS, followed up with a basic summary of their platform. He pointed out constitutional conflicts with the administration’s policies on freedom of speech. He stated that CUFFS rejects the current policy, citing the university’s stance on diversity as another part of the reason for a new policy that better reflects the shared values of a diverse student body.
He also addressed the tricky issue of “hate speech,” saying that the administration should reach out to the students and faculty for their input. He repeated their rejection of the current policy, and gave them the date of late October, 2009 as a deadline for presenting a new policy more in line with constitutional values and the university’s principle of diversity.
During the question and answer session, President Hahs was confronted by a number of students who called her to issue on her statements, and she repeated what she had said about the consequences of the actions of students who crossed the line. This and other comments made other students angry and they confronted her on the restrictions as well as the April 7 protest. She countered that she cared about freedom of opinion and of the Hispanic voices on campus.
Interviewed afterwards in the hallway, some of the student activists were shocked by her comments, and one mentioned her words about “consequences” and “jail,” remarking to her friend, “did she just threaten us?”