Student Union
- By Pete Musto
More US College Students Choose Diversity Over Free Speech
Paula Molina-Acosta’s concerns for her own safety on her college campus first started to grow over a year ago.
Molina-Acosta is a student at the University of Maryland, or UMD, in College Park, Maryland - a Washington suburb. In the fall of 2016, students began seeing the words “Build the Wall” written around the school grounds. This was a term then-presidential candidate Donald Trump used during the 2016 election to discuss security on the United States-Mexico border. Molina-Acosta, who was born in Colombia, South America, says for students like her the words feel like a threat.
Then in March 2017, a student reported seeing a noose hanging in the official housing of one of the school’s social organizations. Nooses have historically been used as weapons against African Americans, and are still seen as a symbol of racial violence.
Two months later, an African American student visiting from Bowie State University was murdered on the UMD campus. A white UMD student suspected of the attack now faces charges of a hate crime.
In light of these events, Molina-Acosta says she wants her school to do more to limit speech and actions she says are hateful. The challenge, she notes, is balancing these limits with the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects Americans’ right to speak freely.
“We all have a right to … write or say what we want to, as long as it doesn’t incite violence,” Molina-Acosta told VOA. “And, of course that right has to be protected. But at the same time, ideologies like that are … tied to … racism … which is connected to inciting violence.”
Diversity vs. free speech
A new study looks at exactly the issues Molina-Acosta is weighing. The Gallup-Knight foundation study finds that a majority of today’s college students in the U.S. value diversity more than protecting free speech.
Released in March, the study is a shared effort from the research company Gallup and the non-profit organization the Knight Foundation. In 2017, the two groups asked over 3,000 college students from across the country about how much they valued diversity and free speech.
One major question was: “If you had to choose, which do you think is more important?” About 53 percent of surveyed students chose “a diverse and inclusive society” over “protecting free speech rights.”
Brandon Busteed, executive director for education and workforce development at Gallup, offers a number of reasons why students may value diversity over free speech. For one, the college student population in the U.S. has become increasingly diverse. Busteed points out that the majority of white students chose free speech over diversity.
However, Busteed argues that the preference for diversity over free speech is not the only important point to come from this study. He notes that 56 percent of the surveyed students feel that protecting free speech is important to a democracy. And 52 percent say the same about including and protecting different kinds of people.
So it is not like college students today place little value on free speech, Busteed says. But in some situations, students might feel they have to choose between the two.
“If you look at the questions we asked about them independently, they value both of them very highly,” he said. “But … if you value inclusivity and diversity, and somebody is saying hate speech about, let’s say African Americans students … now you’ve got two things you believe in that are in … conflict with one another.”
Free speech vs political correctness
Still, Nico Perrino finds the results of this study troubling. He is the director of communications for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which fights to protect free speech on college campuses.
Perrino says the movement to defend free speech has long been challenged by another movement: political correctness. The term relates to the belief that words or ideas minority groups might feel are insulting or discriminatory should be avoided. Critics of political correctness say efforts not to offend can be carried too far.
Many American college students identified with the politically correct, or PC, movement back in the 1990s, says Perrino. But he says the rise of groups like Black Lives Matter has brought renewed attention to it. The group campaigns on issues such as police violence against African Americans, as well as equality and understanding of the African American experience.
Perrino argues it is the job of universities to welcome all kinds of ideas, especially ones that some people might find problematic. Otherwise students may not be able to fully examine those ideas and possibly solve the problems surrounding them.
Also, diversity not only means including different races and ethnicities. It means accepting people who think differently from you, he says.
Perrino says he has no problem with debating or peacefully protesting. But he worries that limiting hate speech may become a form of violence itself. What is more, he says, trying to silence speakers who express hateful views may accidentally result in supporting them.
For example, Milo Yiannopoulos is a writer known for supporting ideas that many find offensive. In his speaking and writing he has attacked Muslims, feminists, people whose appearance he does not like, and many others. In February 2017, he was supposed to hold an event at the University of California, Berkeley, but the event was cancelled following violent protests. In the weeks after, Yiannopoulos’s book became the top seller on the website Amazon.
Perrino says students must understand that the U.S. Supreme Court has never provided a legal definition of hate speech. Therefore schools cannot limit a person’s speech, even if it makes another person feel unsafe. And that is with good reason, he says.
“The reason … is … the question ‘Who decides?’” Perrino said. “Who decides what speech is allowed and who decides what speech is not allowed?’ In the era of Donald Trump, if you asked he and his administration to define what hate speech would be, my suspicion is it would be groups like Black Lives Matter. It would not be, for example, the Milo Yiannopouloses of the world.”
Paula Molina-Acosta of UMD agrees that open discussion between people who hold opposing beliefs is important, and violence is never the answer. Given the choice, she says protecting free speech is more important than diversity.
But Molina-Acosta does wonder if there is middle ground between the two sides of the issue. She admits that students may not be fully right in their aim of banning everything they consider to be hate speech. After all, she is only 19 years old and doesn’t have all the answers, she says. But she also believes the next time someone draws an image related to Nazism, as was the case at UMD last October, university officials should take action.
See all News Updates of the Day
Protests dwindle to tiny numbers, subtle defiant acts at US college graduations
A tiny contingent of Duke University graduates opposed pro-Israel comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina Sunday, with about 30 of the 7,000 students leaving their seats and chanting "free Palestine" amid a mix of boos and cheers.
Some waved the red, green, black and white Palestinian flag. Seinfeld, whose decade-long namesake show became one of the most popular in U.S. television history and who continues to draw legions of fans to his Netflix specials and TV appearances such as "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," was there to receive an honorary doctorate from the university.
"After spending four years at what is considered one of the finest institutions of higher education in the world, they apparently feel that perhaps some light entertainment will get you all to the final realization, 'You know, I think I've really had enough of this place,'" Seinfeld said.
The stand-up turned actor and recent star, director and co-writer of the movie "Unfrosted," has publicly supported Israel since it invaded Gaza to dismantle Hamas after the organization attacked the country and killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7. The ensuing war has killed nearly 35,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Students at campuses across the U.S. responded this spring by setting up encampments and calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it. Students and others on campuses whom law enforcement authorities have identified as outside agitators have taken part in the protests from Columbia University in New York City to UCLA.
At the University of California, Berkeley, on Saturday, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators waved flags and chanted during commencement and were escorted to the back of the stadium, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. There were no major counterprotests, but some attendees voiced frustration.
"I feel like they're ruining it for those of us who paid for tickets and came to show our pride for our graduates," said Annie Ramos, whose daughter is a student. "There's a time and a place, and this is not it."
The small student protest Sunday at Duke's graduation in Durham, North Carolina, was emblematic of campus events across the U.S. Sunday after weeks of student protests roiled U.S. campuses in recent weeks and resulted in nearly 2,900 arrests at 57 colleges and universities.
This weekend's commencement events remained largely peaceful.
At Emerson College in Boston, some students took off their graduation robes and left them on stage. Others emblazoned "free Palestine" on their mortar boards. One woman, staring at a camera broadcasting a livestream to the public, unzipped her robe to show a kaffiyeh, the black and white checkered scarf commonly worn by Palestinians, and flashed a watermelon painted on her hand. Both are symbols of solidarity with those living in the occupied territories.
Others displayed messages for a camera situated on stage, but the livestream quickly shifted to a different view, preventing them from being seen for long. Chants during some of the speeches were difficult to decipher.
Protests at Columbia University, where student uprisings inspired others at campuses across the country, led the school to cancel its main graduation ceremony in favor of smaller gatherings.
The University of Southern California told its valedictorian, who publicly backed Palestinians, that she could not deliver her keynote speech at its graduation ceremony because of security concerns. It later canceled its main graduation ceremony.
At Depaul University in Chicago, graduation is more than a month away. But as the academic year closes, school leaders said they had reached an "impasse" with the school's pro-Palestinian protesters, leaving the future of their encampment on the Chicago campus unclear.
The student-led DePaul Divestment Coalition, which is calling on the university to divest from economic interests tied to Israel, set up the encampment nearly two weeks ago. The group alleged university officials walked away from talks and tried to force students into signing an agreement, according to a student statement late Saturday.
- By VOA News
Students weigh in on how colleges can prepare undergrads for work
Inside Higher Ed surveyed undergraduates on the best way to prepare for the workforce.
One group of students in Oregon built a for-profit snowboarding business as part of their degree. Colleen Flaherty reports. (April 2024)
- By VOA News
Many African students are experiencing US visa rejections
In 2022, 71% of student visa applications from Western Africa were rejected.
Visa agents are not happy – and are finding ways to help applicants with paperwork and the interview. Maina Wururu reports for The PIE News. (April 2024)
- By Tina Trinh
US college students face muted graduations amid Gaza war protests
Commencement ceremonies are being scaled back or canceled at U.S. universities because of security concerns over pro-Palestinian student protests. While some campus demonstrations have resulted in concessions, others have led to violent confrontations. VOA’s Tina Trinh has the story from New York.
- By Melos Ambaye
Police arrest 33 at George Washington University protest encampment
Police in Washington cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, arresting 33 people, authorities said.
Arrests were made on charges of assault on a police officer and unlawful entry, the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department said.
A congressional committee canceled a hearing on the university encampment Wednesday. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith had been scheduled to testify about the city’s handling of the protest before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
University parents and faculty members gathered Wednesday afternoon for a press conference to condemn the handling of the protests by police and school leaders.
“The university clearly does not value the students at all and has endangered the safety of our children by unleashing officers dressed in full riot gear to assault and spray our children in their eyes with pepper spray,” said Hala Amer, whose son participated in the campus protests.
Police said they dispersed demonstrators because "there has been a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest."
American University professor Barbara Wien said she stayed in the encampment with GW students. She described the student protesters as democratic and peaceful.
Police started to shut down the tent encampment after dozens of protesters marched to GW President Ellen Granberg's on-campus home on Tuesday night. Police were called, but no arrests were made.
Speakers at the conference called for Granberg’s resignation because, they alleged, she refused to meet and negotiate with student protesters.
“You keep inciting violence and ignoring the students,” Amer said about Granberg in an interview with VOA after the conference. “It will just lead to more violence. You need to talk to your students.”
GW officials warned students that they could be suspended for engaging in protests at the school’s University Yard, an outdoor spot on the campus.
"While the university is committed to protecting students' rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawful activity, with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations," a GW statement said.
More than 2,600 people have been arrested at universities across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Associated Press.
Students are calling on their university administrations to divest investments from Israel or companies with ties to Israel. Demonstrators have gathered in at least 50 campuses since April 17, carrying signs that read "Free Palestine" and "Hands off Rafah."
Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost city, where most of the territory’s population has clustered. The area is also a corridor for bringing humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, while shutting off the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Israel said Wednesday that it had reopened Kerem Shalom.
The nationwide campus protests started in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza that began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel warned it could "deepen" its operation in Rafah if talks failed to secure the release of the hostages.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
