SANTA ANA COLLEGE el Don/eldonnews.org • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2017
el Don SPECIAL REPORT
FIRST AMENDMENT
IN CRISIS
Free speech on college campuses is under attack
I
STORY BY TIMOTHY BRAVO
t began as a peaceful protest. The students of UC Berkeley flocked
to Sproul Plaza in early February equipped with slogans, signs
and chants opposing a speech by alt-right firebrand and former
Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos as well as the president he
supports, Donald Trump, then freshly sworn into office. As the day
progressed, tensions flared—peaceful protest soon erupted into a vio-
lent demonstration, when about 150 agitators emerged
and created chaos.
Campus lights were thrashed and tagged with Milo’s name, becoming
kindling for a fiery and explosive night of opposition. Metal barricades
became battering rams, and at least five people were injured by the
end of the night—one of which, was shot with pepper spray during
an interview with reporters. Known as one of the most liberal college
campuses in America, Berkeley showed another face to its two-sided
political coin. The events of that night illustrated a dramatic introduc-
tion to a new Trumpian America—an America where the freedoms of
speech, press and assembly would be put to the test.
Once the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, Sproul Plaza has
become a battleground—a microcosm for the free speech debate on
college campuses nationwide.
Free speech zones became popular in the 1960s in the midst of
widespread protest against the Vietnam War. Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza
became a pivotal part of the commitment to free spe ech on college
campuses nationwide, as protesters wanted to share their frustrations
publicly. While student activism has declined since the 1960s, many
schools continue to implement free speech zones as a way to regulate
public demonstrations.
At Santa Ana College, the designated free speech zone includes the
open courtyard in front of the C building and the Cesar Chavez build-
ing, which is currently available for reservation. Due to construction
across campus, additional free speech zones near the L building, R
building and E building are currently closed.
“Free speech has a relevancy. The vote polls are informative and teach
us about many things,” said David Carroca, a SAC sophomore. While
many students on campus believe exercising free speech is important,
there are others who believe some restrictions are necessary, including
the use of free speech zones.
“There should be restrictions for free speech. I don’t like how people
come to me and ask me to sign things. I just want to be left alone,” said
Jose Carroca, a third-year student at SAC (no relation to David).
In a speech at Georgetown University last month, Attorney General
Jeff Sessions addressed students, faculty and protesters, acknowledg-
ing the growing concerns over free speech and designated free speech
zones on college campuses.
“A national recommitment to free speech on campus and to ensuring
First Amendment rights is long overdue,” Sessions said, citing both
support for controversial speakers at UC Berkeley and a lawsuit against
a Georgia college concerning free speech violations.
The lawsuit, filed last year against administrators at Georgia Gwinnett
College, states the school violated a student’s First and 14th Amend-
ment rights. Chike Uzuegbunam was sharing evangelical pamphlets
with students outside the school’s designated free speech zones without
a permit, and was stopped by school officials. After Uzuegbunam
reserved a space within a free speech zone, students complained his
speech about God was disturbing the peace, and that was soon
restricted as well.
Sessions also addressed the growing effort to silence controversial
speakers, whose opinions conflict with protesters. While opposition is
often peaceful, as was the case during Sessions’ speech, with students
taping their mouths shut to protest the Trump administration, other
cases have turned violent.
“People use fear, not passion, when violence is used. Violence isn’t
necessary for a protest, if you are passionate about it,” Jose said.
Charles Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve, which draws a relation-
ship between poor socio-economic standings with race and intelli-
gence, faced opposition at an event last March, hosted by Middlebury
College in Vermont. Both Murray and faculty member Allison Stanger
were assaulted by masked agitators, pushed and shoved in a hallway
while leaving an interview. The assailant yanked Stanger’s hair, twisting
her neck and leaving her in a neck brace.
Yiannopoulos made a visit to Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza in September,
after the school’s “Free Speech Week” was cancelled a day before its
launch. The student publication organizing “Free Speech Week”, the
Berkeley Patriot, was unable to confirm a final guest list or book multi-
ple indoor venues across campus.
Campus organizers later filed a complaint with the Department of
Justice, saying campus officials set up hurdles to prevent the group
from exercising their First Amendment right to free speech.
“Claims that this is somehow the outcome desired by the campus
are without basis in fact. The University was prepared to do whatever
was necessary to support the First Amendment rights of the student
organization,” said Dan Mogulof, university spokesman. Mogulof also
stated the university was prepared to spend over one million dollars to
ensure the safety of the event.
The university has accrued over a million dollars in security costs
since February, spending about $600,000 for hosting conservative
radical Ann Coulter, whose event was later cancelled, and another
$600,000 for talks by conservative writer Ben Shapiro. While schools
list these as security expenditures, it has become a price tag —a mone-
tary measurement for the true cost of free speech in America.
NEWS 7