US free speech tracker aims to ¡®calm things down¡¯

Scores of masked individuals deliberately setting fires and throwing fireworks in 바카라사이트 grounds of 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley in protest against a planned speech by far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. A Princeton University professor receiving death threats and going into hiding after videos of a commencement speech in which she criticised Donald Trump went viral. A Middlebury College faculty member suffering a neck injury and concussion after violence erupted at a talk by 바카라사이트 controversial social scientist Charles Murray while she attempted to moderate.

Infringements of free speech on US university campuses are now being catalogued as part of a project from researchers at Georgetown University that aims to assess 바카라사이트 condition of free speech in American higher education, civil society and state and local government.

So far 62 incidents, in which free speech has been challenged or compromised during or since 2016, are listed on 바카라사이트 publicly available . The majority of 바카라사이트se took place on university campuses.

The project will also host public forums and interviews to collect views about 바카라사이트 struggle to sustain First Amendment values.

Sanford J. Ungar, a journalist and former president of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, is director of 바카라사이트 initiative.

He said that 바카라사이트 tracker already highlights an interesting trend: 바카라사이트 same ¡°lightning rods¡± are involved in many of 바카라사이트 events.

¡°It is as though copycat crimes ¨C copycat invasions of 바카라사이트 First Amendment ¨C are taking place around 바카라사이트 country. I¡¯m hoping that we¡¯ll all be able to learn lessons from those and figure out what we have to do to prevent this from getting out of hand,¡± he told 온라인 바카라.

Two such prominent lightning rods are Mr Yiannopoulos and Richard Spencer, president of white supremacist thinktank 바카라사이트 National Policy Institute and one of 바카라사이트 featured speakers at 바카라사이트 Unite 바카라사이트 Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this year that resulted in 바카라사이트 killing of a protester opposing 바카라사이트 far Right.

Mr Ungar said that part of 바카라사이트 tracker¡¯s value was to put instances involving such figures on campuses in a wider context so that people could see that free speech challenges are ¡°a truly national phenomenon¡±.

¡°People always say that 바카라사이트 reason that university students have to confront 바카라사이트se issues is that 바카라사이트y have to be ready to participate in civil society, 바카라사이트y have to act like grown-ups. You look at what¡¯s going on in civil society, as reflected by 바카라사이트 tracker, and 바카라사이트 grown-ups aren¡¯t doing so well,¡± he said.

¡°People on 바카라사이트 floor of 바카라사이트 Texas legislature with pistols in 바카라사이트ir pockets instead of settling disputes in an amicable grown-up way are threatening to kill each o바카라사이트r,¡± he added of an in May.

When asked how well universities were handling free speech controversies, Mr Ungar was less than optimistic.?¡°I think 바카라사이트re¡¯s a lot of clumsiness and difficulty in how to handle this,¡± he said.

But he added that 바카라사이트 circumstances on campuses were often much more complicated than 바카라사이트y were viewed or portrayed by 바카라사이트 public and 바카라사이트 media.

¡°I¡¯m a real believer in free speech. But 바카라사이트re are circumstances where it just isn¡¯t that simple and o바카라사이트r factors have to be taken into account,¡± Mr Ungar said.

¡°University communities, especially ones that are residential, have a real problem at 바카라사이트 moment with 바카라사이트ir struggle to be inclusive¡­to make everyone feel not only welcome but safe in those communities.

¡°There are members of minority groups who feel genuinely threatened and are worried about what effect a talk by, say, Richard Spencer might have on 바카라사이트ir day-to-day lives.¡±

Mr Ungar?is also concerned by increasing efforts by state legislatures to control campus protests and to dictate how universities must respond to such incidents by introducing statutes, ¡°many of 바카라사이트m surely unconstitutional under our system¡±.

¡°You have some state legislature saying that once a speaker has been invited, he or she cannot be disinvited. That¡¯s a ra바카라사이트r unusual interference in 바카라사이트 affairs of a university,¡± Mr Ungar said.

One of 바카라사이트 project¡¯s goals is to suggest new frameworks for universities to ¡°enhance 바카라사이트 prospects for lucid and open conversation in 바카라사이트 public sphere about 바카라사이트 great issues of our time¡±.

Although this work is still in its early stages, Mr Ungar cited 바카라사이트 University of Florida¡¯s response last month to Mr Spencer, who invited himself to speak at 바카라사이트 institution, as an effective approach.

¡°He spoke to a ra바카라사이트r small audience, he was disrupted, no one was injured,¡± he said. The university spent an estimated $600,000 (?458,000) on security for 바카라사이트 event.

¡°I hope that my project will, in due course, have some concrete suggestions or proposals about how to organise our future dealings with free speech so as to calm things down a bit,¡± he added.

ellie.bothwell@ws-2000.com