Censorship by the campus Left does not take a break during the school year, not even on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
The latest incident of censorship happened at Washington University in St. Louis, where a student stole the American flags set out as part of the 9/11: Never Forget Project put on by Young America’s Foundation. The student serves in student government. He claimed the display was in violation of school rules (it wasn’t) and that he was violating no policy or law by trashing the flags (which is debatable, given that police officers had threatened to arrest him for trying to destroy the display earlier).
WOW: A student senator at @WUSTL was caught on video throwing away 2,977 American flags from conservative students’ 9/11: Never Forget Project memorial.
Despicable. pic.twitter.com/j6Wf1mdyLl
— YAF (@yaf) September 11, 2021
This wasn’t even the only campus 9/11 display that was vandalized. Michigan State also saw a memorial display tampered with. And, as Jonathan Turley notes, this has become a popular trend on college campuses across the country. Left-wing students and staff now feel entitled to censor ideas they don’t like, ironically, under the guise of free speech.
Washington University said that the school condemns the vandalism and that “we value freedom of expression in all forms and will work to ensure that all students are able to express their points of view through appropriate channels without disrupting the rights of others to show support for causes they care about.” It’s a bit mealy-mouthed, but the message seems to be that the university cares about free expression and opposes censorship.
If it means that, it should start by disciplining the student who vandalized the display. According to YAF, the university has not said whether that student will face disciplinary measures. Too often, all universities do is offer a concerned statement without punishing the censorious offenders. Washington University must ensure that this kind of behavior is punished because anything less is tacit approval.
