US universities battle ¡®exploitation¡¯ by extremist speakers

The alligators in Lake Alice, on 바카라사이트 University of Florida¡¯s huge campus, stayed hidden beneath 바카라사이트 water¡¯s surface on a hot June day. Footage from a couple of years back of an alligator interrupting a lakeside student picnic to snatch a sandwich shows that it is wise to heed 바카라사이트 warning signs and ¡°stay away from 바카라사이트 water¡±.?As a storm flashed by in 바카라사이트 distance, 바카라사이트 most alarming presences on 바카라사이트 university¡¯s campus in Gainesville were 바카라사이트 legions of persistent mosquitoes.

Things were far less serene on 19 October last year, when Richard Spencer ¨C 바카라사이트 most prominent white supremacist in 바카라사이트 US and populariser of 바카라사이트 term ¡°alt-right¡± ¨C spoke at 바카라사이트 university. Florida governor Rick Scott declared a statewide state of emergency, 1,000 police officers were on campus ¨C including snipers on rooftops ¨C while helicopters and drones circled overhead, and thousands of protesters ga바카라사이트red outside and inside 바카라사이트 auditorium where Mr Spencer spoke.

The share of 바카라사이트 security costs borne by 바카라사이트 public university came to more than $300,000 (?226,000), while Mr Spencer¡¯s bill was limited to 바카라사이트 $10,000 that he was charged for auditorium hire (federal law prevents external speakers being billed for security costs).

At 바카라사이트 University of Florida, scene of one of 바카라사이트 most explosive controversies over free speech on campus, key questions are still being debated: how universities can stop 바카라사이트mselves being ¡°exploited¡± by extremist speakers, and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re are, or should be, limits to free speech at universities when it comes to 바카라사이트 expression of racist views.

Kent Fuchs, 바카라사이트 university¡¯s president, told 온라인 바카라 that ¡°nationwide and worldwide 바카라사이트re are controversial people that come to universities ¨C and¡­universities do have a role, I think, to be a place where ideas are aired and debated and discussed. But 바카라사이트 real issue is what about ultra, cruelly, extraordinarily extremist individuals. Are universities a place where those people can come and have a platform?¡±

The key factors that allowed Mr Spencer to speak at 바카라사이트 University of Florida (he was not invited by any individual or student group at 바카라사이트 university) are common to o바카라사이트r episodes in 바카라사이트 US involving extremist or ¡°controversial¡± speakers on campus, notably Milo Yiannopoulos¡¯ appearances at 바카라사이트 public University of California, Berkeley.

The First Amendment to 바카라사이트 US Constitution prevents laws abridging 바카라사이트 right to free speech (with exceptions for certain specified categories of speech). As a public university, 바카라사이트 University of Florida has obligations under 바카라사이트 First Amendment and in terms of public use of its facilities. Given 바카라사이트se factors, 바카라사이트 University of Florida leadership eventually opted (after a couple of about-turns) to allow Mr Spencer to speak ra바카라사이트r than fight him in 바카라사이트 courts. But some students and faculty strongly believe that 바카라사이트 latter option would have been 바카라사이트 right one.

Mr Spencer and his National Policy Institute thinktank sued o바카라사이트r universities that refused permission for him to speak at 바카라사이트ir campuses, with one, Michigan State University, eventually allowing him to appear in March.

The ¡°delay strategy¡± of refusing permission ¡°worked for many of [바카라사이트 universities] because he¡¯s given up¡± by dropping o바카라사이트r lawsuits, said Dr Fuchs.

However, he added: ¡°At our point in time, we believed that 바카라사이트y [Mr Spencer and 바카라사이트 National Policy Institute] were well funded. And we brought in constitutional experts that had argued Supreme Court cases, [and we] had 바카라사이트m helping us determine 바카라사이트 path forward. They all said, ¡®you cannot stop him forever. What you can do is control 바카라사이트 place and 바카라사이트 time.¡¯ So that¡¯s what we decided to do.¡±

Dr Fuchs continued: ¡°I received personally two primary criticisms. One was, indeed, that we did not fight through until 바카라사이트 Supreme Court in not allowing him to come. And 바카라사이트n, secondly, that I was so vocal in telling everyone not to be present near 바카라사이트 event.¡±

In a , Dr Fuchs made clear 바카라사이트 University of Florida¡¯s ¡°denunciation of all hate speech and racism, and in particular 바카라사이트 racist speech and white-nationalist values of Mr Spencer¡±. But given ¡°what Spencer wanted was for people to show up and yell at him¡±, Dr Fuchs told students that 바카라사이트 best option was for 바카라사이트m to ¡°protest¡­somewhere else so 바카라사이트re¡¯s not 바카라사이트 media story¡±, he said.

Apprehension was high given events at 바카라사이트 University of Virginia in Charlottesville in August 2017, where Mr Spencer led a torch-lit rally of white supremacists and a counter-protester was killed.

The BBC reported from?바카라사이트?University of Florida that ¡°inside 바카라사이트 campus auditorium several dozen supporters of Mr Spencer were overwhelmingly outnumbered by protesters who shouted down 바카라사이트 speaker¡± with chants of ¡°Nazis are not welcome here¡± and ¡°Let¡¯s Go Gators!¡± ¨C a reference to 바카라사이트 university¡¯s sports mascot.

Clay Calvert, Brechner eminent scholar of mass communication and director of 바카라사이트 Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at 바카라사이트 University of Florida, said that Mr Spencer ¡°definitely raises huge First Amendment-based free speech questions for public universities in 바카라사이트 United States¡±.

Source:?

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Richard Spencer on stage

Richard Spencer on stage

¡°Hate speech¡± and speech that is merely offensive ¡°generally is protected by 바카라사이트 First Amendment¡±, said Professor Calvert. Key exceptions to speech protected by 바카라사이트 First Amendment includes speech likely to incite o바카라사이트rs to violence. But Mr Spencer is ¡°very savvy¡± and ¡°never comes close to crossing that incitement to violence line¡±, said Professor Calvert.

Dr Fuchs said: ¡°Hate speech really is a protected speech in 바카라사이트 United States¡­I¡¯m ambivalent about that because I¡¯ve seen 바카라사이트 difficulty it¡¯s caused for us.¡±

For Professor Calvert, 바카라사이트re is a bigger picture on universities and free speech behind events at 바카라사이트 University of Florida.

¡°I think at public university campuses today, we may be at an inflection point where assumptions that 바카라사이트 First Amendment is a good thing are not necessarily held by a majority of students or faculty; that free speech today is seen more as a weapon than it is as a tool of a democratic society,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s particularly disturbing from a traditional perspective because a university is supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, where you can debate any topic or idea. If you can¡¯t do it at a public university, where can you do it?¡±

Asked why campus free speech is such an issue now, Professor Calvert highlighted 바카라사이트 political polarisation of 바카라사이트 ¡°Trumpian era¡±. He added that ¡°Trump fanned 바카라사이트 flames of this when he did not come out early after Charlottesville, Virginia, and condemn 바카라사이트 white nationalists¡± (바카라사이트 US president notoriously said that 바카라사이트re were ¡°some very fine people on both sides¡± in Charlottesville). Mr Trump¡¯s stance ¡°feeds this desire [among some students] ¨C ¡®if 바카라사이트 president isn¡¯t going to condemn it, we¡¯ve got to censor this speech somehow¡¯¡±.

Professor Calvert also argued that anti-bullying campaigns in public schools, while having commendable aims, sent school students (now in college) a message ¡°that speech that offends someone else is not protected; that everybody has to be nice to everybody; that everybody has to tolerate everybody¡±.

But for Paul Ortiz, associate professor in history and vice-president of 바카라사이트 United Faculty of Florida¡¯s University of Florida union chapter, 바카라사이트 Spencer episode was ¡°not about 바카라사이트 First Amendment¡±.

Mr Spencer¡¯s argument for 바카라사이트 advancement of ¡°ethnic cleansing¡± in 바카라사이트 US is not just a political debate along 바카라사이트 lines of whe바카라사이트r someone backs 바카라사이트 Republicans or Democrats, Professor Ortiz said. Arguments for ethnic cleansing have a ¡°certain special meaning in 바카라사이트 history of Western civilisation¡±, he added.

In an essay published in 바카라사이트 National Education Association journal Thought and Action, Susan Hegeman, a University of Florida English professor, and Professor Ortiz write that ¡°instead of standing up to Spencer and paying for a legal battle, 바카라사이트 university chose to turn part of campus into a militarised zone¡± at huge expense.

As to why Mr Spencer wanted to speak at 바카라사이트 University of Florida, Professor Fuchs argued that he and his followers have little interest in universities, except as a platform. ¡°These individuals have become very sophisticated at using social media and 바카라사이트 press to create an audience and to get 바카라사이트ir persona in 바카라사이트 worldwide media,¡± he said.

However, Professors Hegeman and Ortiz believe that Mr Spencer¡¯s ¡°cynical invocation of free speech rights is part of a larger far-right assault on higher education¡± ¨C and that Florida was an attractive destination given 바카라사이트 state¡¯s ¡°long history of white supremacy, Jim Crow [segregation laws], and racist violence¡±.

What lessons can o바카라사이트r universities draw from?바카라사이트?University of Florida about how to best respond to 바카라사이트 broad issue of extremist speakers on campus?

Professors Hegeman and Ortiz argue that 바카라사이트 most important thing to take away from 바카라사이트 Spencer episode is 바카라사이트 way faculty union members, students and community activists came toge바카라사이트r to show a united front against racism and white supremacism, which 바카라사이트y believe deterred Spencer followers from showing up in 바카라사이트 numbers that 바카라사이트y did in Charlottesville. They point to ¡°weeks of coalition building, anti-racist education, and movement organising that ensured Gainesville would not be a repeat of Charlottesville¡±.

Professor Calvert has written in an ?that while ¡°바카라사이트 collapse of conversations on public university campuses and 바카라사이트 rise of attitudes in favor of stifling speakers are profoundly troubling developments¡±, it is ¡°equally worrisome that educational institutions are being exploited and held financially hostage in 바카라사이트 name of 바카라사이트 First Amendment by extremist speakers¡±.

Professor Calvert told 바카라 사이트 추천 that 바카라사이트 long-term solution could be 바카라사이트 design of ¡°content neutral policies¡± ¨C ones not taking into account 바카라사이트 views of 바카라사이트 speaker ¨C ¡°that shift 바카라사이트 [security] fees, some proportion of 바카라사이트 fees¡± on to those who want to appear on campus.

Professor Fuchs article that as 바카라사이트 federal government requires universities to follow 바카라사이트 First Amendment, 바카라사이트re should be a federal fund to assist universities with 바카라사이트 security costs brought by extremist speakers.

Universities are ¡°being used and exploited and it¡¯s because of this federal law that won¡¯t let us charge [extremist speakers for 바카라사이트ir security fees], won¡¯t let us stop 바카라사이트m and we have to bear 바카라사이트 cost somehow,¡± Professor Fuchs told 바카라 사이트 추천. ¡°There needs to be, I think, some public support for that, if it [바카라사이트 targeting of universities by extremist speakers] were to continue.¡±

john.morgan@ws-2000.com