Even conservative universities aren’t immune to free speech controversies.
The conservative Liberty University appears to have blocked its student paper from publishing an anti-Trump column. The student speculated his article got the boot because “Jerry didn’t like it.”
Liberty President Jerry Falwell, Jr. is an outspoken Trump supporter, and publicly endorsed the Republican back in January, long before the primary was decided.
Appearing to contradict his recent statement, which hailed Liberty as one of the few universities to promote free expression, Falwell also made the decision to cut the student’s column, calling it “redundant.”
@Sandi simple, if I see redundant columns, I cut one. Why repeat the same thoughts twice at school expense? Good night.
— J L Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) October 19, 2016
Falwell told the Washington Post, “The paper already had a letter that was very similar in content supporting Hillary Clinton and condemning Trump for the 2005 video. The two letters were redundant and space was limited so an editorial decision was made to go with the other letter written by a medical student.”
Joel Schmieg, the sports editor of the student newspaper, wrote the column in question, condemning Trump for his comments about women and his attempts to pass it off as “locker room talk.”
“As a former male athlete, I know exactly what high school guys talk about when they think they are alone,” Schmieg said. “It absolutely can be vulgar and objectifying to women. But here’s the thing — I have never in my life heard guys casually talk about preying on women in a sexual manner.”
Schmieg posted the full column on his Facebook page, since he wasn’t able to get it published.
Although one of the reasons Falwell gave for pulling the column was “limited space” in the newspaper, Schmieg told Inside Higher Ed that he had to write another column when his piece about Trump was rejected. “It’s not an issue of space,” he said.
Many Liberty students were unhappy with their president’s decision to endorse Trump, and in light of the recently released audio tapes and the stream of sexual assault allegations against the Republican nominee, they want to make it clear that Falwell’s endorsement doesn’t represent them.
Some students formed a group called Liberty United Against Trump and released a statement last week that highlights the deep divisions on campus.
“Any faculty or staff member at Liberty would be terminated for such comments, and yet when Donald Trump makes them, President Falwell rushes eagerly to his defense — taking the name ‘Liberty University’ with him,” the statement said. “‘We’re all sinners,’ Falwell told the media, as if sexual assault is a shoulder-shrugging issue rather than an atrocity which plagues college campuses across America, including our own. It is not enough to criticize these kinds of comments. We must make clear to the world that while everyone is a sinner and everyone can be forgiven, a man who constantly and proudly speaks evil does not deserve our support for the nation’s highest office.”
