More than 100 social justice warriors from 18 campus organizations united in protest against a wall on Friday, but not the type you’d expect.
Last week, the College Republicans at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo constructed a “Free Speech Wall” on campus to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, allowing students to scribble messages on it before it was torn down.
The construction of a “Free Speech Wall” is tradition at Cal Poly and has infuriated campus progressives year after year, who believe it provides an unrestricted forum for offensive speech. It was even the impetus behind the formation of a radical progressive group called Solidarity SLO, which protested the appearance of conservatives Milo Yiannopoulos and Lauren Southern last year, and has openly called for the resignation of Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong after he ignored their absurd demands.
One of the protesters, Gabriela Guillen, believes that the College Republicans should have included other campus communities in discussing and planning for the wall. “For that reason, it doesn’t reflect the views of all students,” Guillen told The Tribune.
Who knew putting up a plywood wall in the middle of a lawn merited so much planning?
Meanwhile, the protest march against the wall, called “Cal Poly Rises Against Hate” actually did take a month to plan, according to organizer Matt Klepfer of Solidarity SLO, who assembled an array of campus clubs to participate in the rally.
In addition to protesting the wall, organizers used the event as an opportunity to raise money for California bail funds “to be proactive in fighting white supremacy within our communities.”
Armstrong addressed the campus community about the wall earlier in the week.
“The intent of the event and wall,” he noted, “is to enthusiastically celebrate free speech, one of our most important civil rights and the very lifeblood of a university.” While urging students to consider how their comments or drawings might make others feel, he boldly asserted that Cal Poly “support[s] everyone’s right to express a variety of views and opinions on campus.”
Rather than conceding to the resistance, Armstrong set an example for how a university should respond to this kind of event—as an opportunity for campus dialogue.
Author’s note: I’m proud to say I started the Free Speech Wall tradition in 2011 while I was president of the Cal Poly College Republicans, and I’m shocked at the backlash that such a simple expression of free speech has faced so much resistance. Thankfully, Cal Poly has a president who understands the importance of the First Amendment.
Brendan Pringle (@BrendanPringle) is a freelance journalist in California. He is a National Journalism Center graduate and formerly served as a development officer for Young America’s Foundation at the Reagan Ranch
