Higher education has often been a battleground for free speech. Progressive university officials know the students they teach are on the verge of adulthood, forging a career, voting in elections, and participating in public discourse. The next generation is vital to part of the nation’s political and socioeconomic life.
Many professors seem to squelch conservative, traditional, or religious ideas and beliefs in an attempt to influence students to adhere to far-left ideas only. It’s important to note what is happening on campuses nationwide, for better or for worse. This week, there is good and bad news.
The good campus news is that a federal court ruled in favor of Ashlyn Hoggard, finding that Arkansas State University had violated her constitutional rights when the university informed her she couldn’t set up a table outside the local student union to advertise for Turning Point USA, a center-right, political activism group.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals’s decision in Turning Point USA at Arkansas State University v. Rhodes is a positive step toward ensuring that all college students can freely express their religious or political beliefs without fear of discrimination. Shame on Arkansas State for squelching Hoggard’s basic freedoms in the first place.
As Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Chris Schandevel said in a statement, “We’re pleased that our lawsuit prompted the state to enact good legislation protecting free speech on campus and that the new law forced the university to change its unconstitutional policies, but our client’s First Amendment freedoms had never been vindicated until now.” Schandevel continued, “By affirming that Arkansas State officials violated Ashlyn’s constitutional rights, the court ensured that the law is clearly established going forward. That means students will now have greater protections to speak freely on campus.”
Colleges and universities should be a hotbed of ideas, discourse, and disagreement. This is where many young students formulate ideas and theories they take with them into adulthood. Students and professors should be able to speak about controversial topics without fear that the administration will step in and demand they sit down, be quiet, and only absorb information. Or, in this case, students should be able to promote different political ideas and attempt to draw other students into an organization without being told that’s somehow unacceptable.
Although this case turned out well for Hoggard, the same is not always true. Now, the bad campus news. Attorneys filed a lawsuit on Monday against a Florida State University administrator for ignoring one student’s plea that he be allowed to share his religious beliefs with students without losing his leadership position at the school.
Jack Denton, the president of the FSU student senate, had a private text conversation with friends, some fellow Catholics. In this conversation, Denton suggested that several groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Black Lives Matter, don’t align with Catholic beliefs and that Catholic students may want to offer support for organizations that do. This is not an uncommon observation or request among any religious groups. In fact, it’s an impressive observation on the part of a young college student, and he should be applauded for standing firm in his religious beliefs.
Word spread through social media of Denton’s views, and other student senators began misrepresenting them. Denton was booted from his leadership as the student senate’s president days later. After attempts to improve things failed, Denton sued the school.
“All students should be able to peacefully share their personal convictions without fear of retaliation,” ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, said in a statement. “Florida State should be fostering real diversity of thought, not punishing individuals based on their religious convictions or political beliefs,” continuing, “while FSU students claim they’re creating a ‘safe space,’ they’ve tried to cancel Jack’s freedoms and discriminate against him because they don’t like his beliefs, in direct violation of the school’s SGA Ethics Code, the Student Body Constitution, and — most importantly — the First Amendment.”
As rioters sweep through major urban cities, “cancel culture” threatens to destroy normal interactions. Disagreements turn into threats and violence, and it’s more important than ever that the fight for free speech and free ideas be confronted in the arena of higher education. College is where young people are often still malleable but also entering adulthood, and the importance of this pivotal time in their lives cannot be overstated.
While people of faith realize they might face criticism or persecution — it is often expected — they should not be discriminated against or lose positions in leadership due to their religious beliefs. It is a violation of First Amendment rights. Although there is good and bad news in higher education this week, the fact that both students are fighting is a good sign that all is not lost to the progressive culture on university campuses.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
