A recent poll by conservative interests showed that a majority of university students favored speech codes for students and faculty. Sixty-three percent wanted warnings when professors addressed uncomfortable issues. And 35 percent said that the First Amendment does not protect hate speech. (The Bradley Foundation, October, 2015)
Catherine Rampell, of The Washington Post, October 22, 2015, echoes concern for the First Amendment on campus citing the banishment of speakers with views that offend students. She was particularly disturbed by the response of Wesleyan University students to an opinion piece in the Wesleyan Argus criticizing the tactics of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Greg Piper of The College Fix, October 23, 2015, cites a number of troubling instances of censorship across the country including the withdrawal of an invitation to Suzanne Venker to speak at Williams College. The Williams Record said Venker’s view that feminism fails women was “wrong, offensive and unacceptable.”
A number of advocacy organizations has petitioned the Department of Education to punish students for speech considered harmful to fellow students and to block access to websites, Yik Yak, etc., that allow anonymous speech. Universities out of compliance could see their federal funding ended. If enacted the proposal would extend censorship in universities across the country. (The Volokh Conspiracy in The Washington Post, October 26, 2015, by Eugene Volokh)