The last month has seen incredible strides made for freedom of speech on college campuses, but the biggest changes haven’t come from the White House.
On March 21, I was one of the 10 young activists who stood on stage with President Trump at the signing of the executive order on free speech. While it is wonderful to see the White House addressing the threat against freedom of expression on America’s colleges and universities, the battle for the First Amendment is far from over.
Thankfully, with allies such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and Young Americans for Liberty, ample opportunity exists for America’s youth to continue retaliating against unconstitutional restrictions on free speech.
The importance of freedom of speech shouldn’t have to be repeatedly emphasized. While I used to believe that virtually everyone considered free speech a great thing, my experience as an activist has taught me otherwise. More times than I can count, I have seen blatant injustices waged against young people at the hands of corrupt and biased university officials.
As an activist with Young Americans for Liberty’s Fight for Free Speech campaign, my friends and I have been harassed and forced into so-called free speech zones, some of which comprise less than 1% of the total campus area. Orwellian measures like this hurt everyone, no matter what ideas they stand for.
This is why I, along with countless others, have chosen to fight for liberty rather than stand idly by. This past year, I led a bipartisan coalition of more than 20 student leaders in support of HB 254, the Kentucky Campus Free Speech Act, testifying in front of both chambers of the Kentucky General Assembly. Following months of meeting with legislators, raising awareness online and on campus, and mobilizing supporters across the state, the bill passed just one week before the president’s executive order was signed.
This unprecedented new law not only requires public institutions in Kentucky to implement broader speech protections on their campuses, but it restricts college administrations from discriminating against students, faculty, or on-campus organizations on the basis of their ideas.
In the words of the bill’s co-sponsor State Rep. Savannah Maddox, a Republican, this means protecting the rights of “Republican and Democratic students, pro-life and pro-choice advocates, members of the LGBTQ community, [and] students of color and religious groups.”
While the president’s executive order is a generally encouraging sign, implementing many of the order’s guidelines will take years. Even then, the progress the Trump administration has made can always be overturned by a future president. This is why action must be taken elsewhere, both in the form of on-campus activism and in statewide legislation such as Kentucky’s Campus Free Speech Act.
But we can’t continue making differences like these without the support of young people who care about seeing America become the freest, happiest, and most prosperous place it can be. This means being more like YAL’s Isaac Edikauskas and Nick Consolini (who were also on stage with me), Michael Frazier (who joined me in providing testimony on behalf of the bill in Kentucky), and all of the student leaders that formed the coalition supporting the Campus Free Speech Act.
Whether it’s championing legislation that supports freedom, making a difference on campus, or going to the White House to meet the president, the time to make our voices heard on freedom of speech is now. If we fail to act today, students across the country will continue to face censorship and discrimination during what is supposed to be the most formative period of their lives. This is why it is imperative that young people organize in support of legislation like Kentucky’s Campus Free Speech Act, so that a more fulfilling and diverse educational experience can be made a reality for every American.
Sebastian Torres is a student at the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law. A current resident of Highland Heights, Ky., he served as Young Americans for Liberty’s Kentucky state chair for more than three years.
