The College of William and Mary Student Assembly passed the Free Speech Defense Act by unanimous consent at its weekly meeting Tuesday.
The bill is a response to campus regulations that ban all chalk messages placed by student organizations and limit the locations where students can protest to designated “free speech zones.”
“Free speech zones are a serious violation of the First Amendment,” Sen. Erik Houser ’10, the bill’s co-sponsor, said.
The bill seeks to express student opposition to the regulations and publicly commend College President Taylor
Reveley and the administration for their continuing efforts regarding freedom of speech on campus.
“I think this is a really great way to express William and Mary and all the wonderful things we have to offer,” Sen. Jill Olszewski ’12 said.
The Foundation for Individual Rights recently designated the College a “green light” school. FIRE describes green light schools as colleges and universities with policies that nominally protect free speech. Houser said a motivating factor behind the Free Speech Defense Act was to maintain the College’s standing.
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Mark Constantine said that administrators
want to work with the SA to protect students’ rights to free speech.
As part of the plan, the College would designate the Crim Dell Amphitheatre as a permanent free speech area, available at all hours and open to all students on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The SA also passed the Get With the Times Act, a bill to allocate funds to have The New York Times delivered to campus daily for the remainder of the semester. The bill passed in a 13-2 vote with two abstentions.
The act sets aside $4,250 for the distribution of 200 copies of the New York Times at five campus locations. The current plan provides 50 newspapers to the Sadler Center, 50 to Alan B. Miller Hall, 50 to the Marshall-Wythe School of Law School, 25 to the Campus Center and 25 to the Commons.
The Finance and Budget Committee, which gave its positive recommendation for the proposal before the vote, decided last week that only one national newspaper should be delivered.
Sen. Betty Jeanne Manning ’12 said that the remainder of the semester would serve as a trial period and that student feedback would then be used to determine the future of the program
The senate also heard from Steer Clear representatives about the need for new vans. Steer Clear Director Zoe Grotophorst ’11 and Assistant Director of Operations
Carolyn Cardwell ’11 said that there are many problems with the current
vans, including doors that do not open properly as well as several broken interior lights.
Additionally, Grotophorst and Cardwell said that drivers cannot charge the Steer Clear cell phone in either van and one van has at least 100,000 miles on its odometer.
The Financial Transparency Act, which would provide the SA with information
from the administration for budget-making decisions in the future, is scheduled to be discussed at a later session.
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9 Comments
Free speech zones are not
Free speech zones are not violations of the First Amendment. They are content-neutral restrictions and the Supreme Court has upheld them. Look around, free speech zones quite common: capitals, monuments, national parks. Erik Houser’s comment is quite disingenuous; I know he’s taken a seminar concerning the Supreme Court, and he knows better than to make sweeping generalizations about what is and isn’t allowed under the First Amendment without a little background reading. Shame on him.
Frankly, I think the College’s idea is a good one. Yes, a state school campus is public property. At the same time, I live here, and at least in some ways campus is like each of our private homes put together. I would like to be able to make the simple trip from my my bedroom (dorm) to my dining room (dining hall) and be able to choose a route around from the Crim Dell ampitheater if I don’t feel like subjecting myself to omnipresent demonstrations.
These are not “the
These are not “the College’s” policies, they are Mark Constantine’s very bizarre interpretations of time, place, and manner restrictions. They are applied arbitrarily and not codified anywhere in official college policy. Nowhere are free speech zones in the student handbook.
Perhaps there wouldn’t be so much confusion on this issue if the Flat Hat hadn’t inaccurately described the SA’s initiative to ELIMINATE speech zones as an attempt to CREATE them. I look forward to the retraction and public apology. Shame on both the Flat Hat and Mark Constantine.
Agreed. SHAME!!!
Agreed. SHAME!!!
True, time and place
True, time and place restrictions are not always unconstitutional, but they are subject to a high level of scrutiny. There must be a compelling reason to justify the particular restrictions.
They are a violation of the
They are a violation of the first amendment because they violate “reasonable time and space restrictions” Drawing a 10 foot by 10 foot box is, at its core, an unreasonable restriction. It just defies logic.
‘“Free speech zones are
‘“Free speech zones are a serious violation of the First Amendment,” Sen. Erik Houser ’10, the bill’s co-sponsor, said.’
Please explain!
why doesnt someone focus on
why doesnt someone focus on something more important, like why mark constantine and the administration are trying to kill the greek system and kick everyone off campus. if they really want the fraternities off campus, they should move them into ludwell and turn the units into normal dorms.
That is already happening,
That is already happening, I heard some fraternities are moving into ludwell under a block housing deal. Suck it Ben Brown.
That is indeed happening,
That is indeed happening, and those of us following the Greek housing issue are pleased that Vice President Ambler has made it one of her top priorities. While long term solutions won’t come to fruition for some time, we’re glad the administration is at least making moves in the right direction.
As for sucking it I’ll have to respectfully decline.