Students Don't Need To Fear On-Campus Expression

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In Patriot Talon’s December 9 issue, Opinion Editor David Young called on UT-Tyler administration to establish a free speech zone that would confine all campus speech activity to one campus location. Young claimed the university’s commitment to free speech placed students at risk of injury due to how others would use free speech.

Young cited traveling preacher Jesse Morrell of Open Air Outreach and stated that a speaker like him, under administration’s current commitment to free speech, could subject students to controversial viewpoints that run against their personal beliefs and Young floated the idea that an off-campus speaker could even follow a student around campus and harass them in the name of free speech.

Lastly, among his critiques for the administration, Young claimed that UT-Tyler officials left the campus without rules for this chaotic environment and that the solution was to establish a designated zone for all on-campus speech. Young wrote, “in order to have your opinions respected, it is important to have a designated spot for free speech, and to have rules the campus abides by.”

Young’s depiction of the campus condition is seriously uninformed. For not only does UT-Tyler have rules (contrary to his assertions), but these rules create a healthy environment for free speech.

First, to correct Young’s erroneous description of UT-Tyler’s campus environment, there are plenty of rules that regulate speech on-campus. The student handbook (Student Affair’s Manual of Policies and Procedures or “MOPP”) contains plenty of rules for a whole host of First Amendment activity, from public speech to assembly even to the distribution of literature. Far from being a disorderly campus without rules, there is plenty of structure, and the administration has provided plenty of rules to establish order.

Secondly, though the administration supports free speech, this support is not unlimited. In other words, through MOPP, the administration holds other commitments, such as the freedom of association and to students' rights to access the university, that balance its commitments to free speech.

For example, did you know that under MOPP, one’s speech cannot disrupt a classroom? (MOPP, Sec. 6-301.) That is, speech that happens to be so loud or demonstrations too visually disruptive that they inhibit a student in a nearby classroom from learning, is prohibited. If the student cannot hear the lecture or cannot concentrate during a test, the speaker is disruptive and the speaker must stop speaking.

Likewise, no speaker may disrupt the flow of sidewalk traffic or of a vehicle. (Sec 6-301.)

The university administration’s commitment to free speech is not unlimited. Its simultaneous commitment to uphold other student rights preserves a healthy environment that includes support for free speech.

But what about harassment? Can a speaker possibly target a student for harassment and follow them around in the name of free speech as Young floated in his essay? No, they may not. This is called coercing one’s attention and the administration explicitly prohibits this in MOPP. MOPP reads, “No person may persist in requesting or demanding the attention of any other person after that other person has attempted to walk away or has clearly refused to attend to the speaker's communication.” (Sec. 6-303.)

Young’s fear that a commitment to free speech means a speaker can harass a student by following them around campus is unfounded. A UT-Tyler that would tolerate this behavior does not exist.

These are a few of the rules to demonstrate that UT-Tyler has healthy boundaries in place to create a protective and productive environment for free speech.

Contrary to Young’s depiction, our local university is not the wild west of free speech. With these commitments to students’ access to the university, and order defined in MOPP, UT-Tyler creates a healthy environment that can receive many forms of free speech. Students do not need to fear injury by the presence of on-campus expression.

Twitter: @jhescock

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