Posted on 12/17/2015 6:36:27 AM PST by reaganaut1
A good argument can be made nowhere in America is free speech less safe than on private college and university campuses.
On public college and universities, the First Amendment applies, thus giving students, faculty members, and everyone else protection against official censorship or punishment for saying things that some people don't want said. A splendid example of that was brought to a conclusion earlier this year at Valdosta State University, where the school's president went on a vendetta against a student who criticized his plans for a new parking structure - and was clobbered in court. (I discussed that case here.)
But the First Amendment does not apply to private colleges and universities because they don't involve governmental action. Oddly, while all colleges that accept federal student aid money must abide by a vast host of regulations, the Supreme Court ruled in Rendell-Baker v. Kohn that acceptance of such money does not bring them under the umbrella of the First Amendment.
At private colleges, the protection for freedom of speech has to be found (at least in most states) in the implicit contract the school enters into with each incoming student. Ordinarily, the school holds itself out as guaranteeing certain things about itself and life on campus in its handbook and other materials. If school officials act in ways that depart significantly from the reasonable expectations it created, then the college can be held liable.
As the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) puts it, "There is a limit to 'bait-and-switch' techniques that promise academic freedom and legal equality but deliver authoritarianism and selective censorship."
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Wrong word: AXIOM.
Constitution bump for later...
Not trying to move our ‘discussion’ to another thread, but this article deals with with the private vs. public college distinction.
What is the Constitutional issue? Besides the absence of a Constitutional issue.
I went to a private collage. I willingly signed a “lifestyle agreement”. The professors/administration were gracious and willing to allow class discussions, but all (at that time) brought conclusion to discussions with the Christian worldview as the one that settled the issue. Private colleges are different, they are not publically funded and no one is forced to attend due to proximity and/or cost.
I went to an event at the student union at a public university and was shocked and disgusted by the fliers posted on the walls. It was a cesspool of immorality-symposiums on sex and sexuality (ALL kinds listed), ads for the showing of The Vagina Monologues, sodomite clubs,etc. Graphic descriptions and lofty open minded proclamations. Contrast that with my recent visit to my alma mater: fliers for mission trips, volunteering opportunities for missions in the local inner city, the theater department’s production of Fiddler on the Roof.
Students used to slam the “Bethel Bubble” that the school provides saying it was too safe and not like the real world. My real world experience is much more like the “Bethel Bubble” - attending church weekly, no hangovers every weekend, faith and family first, helping out others in need, etc than it is like the no limits on speech or behavior that is promoted at most public universities.
There’s a reason people are willing to pay more for private colleges.
These yutes are too stupid to realize that once they get their way, they, too, will be highly susceptible for violations. Let them hang their own!! Make it a reality TV program.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
