{"id":4870,"date":"2024-04-20T15:30:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T15:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870"},"modified":"2024-04-20T15:30:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T15:30:36","slug":"us-campuses-are-battlegrounds-in-free-speech-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870","title":{"rendered":"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

This week the University of Southern California canceled the graduation speech of its senior class valedictorian at a time when there is a growing debate over the limits of free speech on American college campuses.<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s Asna Tabas\u00adsum, a Muslim biomedical engineer major, was selected from among 100 outstanding students to address the graduating class of 2024 this May. However, the school withdrew the invitation for her to speak at the graduation ceremony citing safety concerns.<\/p>\n

Tabassum denounced the decision, which she attributed to her public support for Palestinian human rights. She said it is part of \u201ca campaign of hate meant to silence my voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\"Students\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>

\nStudents carrying signs protest a canceled commencement speech by its 2024 valedictorian who has publicly supported Palestinians on the campus of University of Southern California, April 18, 2024.<\/span>
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The school maintains it is a safety issue, not about free speech. School officials say they received an alarming number of violent threats after selecting her as speaker.<\/p>\n

USC is one of many American universities that have struggled with policies over free speech and campus protest since October\u2019s Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the continuing fighting in Gaza. After weeks or months of on-campus protests and rallies, schools have been taking more forceful action to punish protesters who administrators say have become disruptive.<\/p>\n

On Thursday at Columbia University in New York, police arrested more than 100 students who had gathered on campus for pro-Palestinian protests. The school\u2019s dean wrote that the protesters had been told several times that they were violating university policies and would be suspended. The students say they were exercising their free speech rights.<\/p>\n

At Washington\u2019s American University, protests in all campus buildings have been banned by the school\u2019s president since January. Under the new policy, students may not hold rallies, engage in silent protests or place posters in any campus building.<\/p>\n

Protests and safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

University students have a long history of engaging in political activism. From the Vietnam War to abortion rights, universities have played a key role in American political debates. <\/p>\n

However, students now say that schools like AU with a long-standing protest culture are silencing protesters with new rules. <\/p>\n

Arusa Islam, American University student body president-elect and current vice president, says the policies are preventing an open discussion about U.S. foreign policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cIndoor protesting was never a problem, it was never an issue before October 7th,\u201d Islam said. \u201cStudents were allowed to put up posters in buildings and students were allowed to have a silent protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now we don\u2019t have that right anymore,\u201d she added. \u201cWe have been silenced and it is affecting us greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n

American University\u2019s president, Sylvia Burwell, says the school\u2019s new policies are intended to ensure that protests do not disrupt university activity. <\/p>\n

Burwell also referred to recent events on campus that \u201cmade Jewish students feel unsafe and unwelcome.\u201d She added, antisemitism is abhorrent, wrong, and will not be tolerated at American University. <\/p>\n

While administrators insist that they are making narrow restrictions in the interests of providing an education, critics say the policies have a far-reaching effect.<\/p>\n

At Cornell University, where new rules took effect in January, Claire Ting, the executive vice president of the Cornell Student Assembly, said the policies have had an unsettling effect on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe campus climate at Cornell has been tense surrounding free speech in recent times,\u201d Ting emailed VOA. <\/p>\n

Ting said that both students and faculty feel the policy has had chilling effects on free expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents report facing arbitrary, escalating punishment for violating the policy, with the policy itself lacking clear outlines for the consequences of civil disobedience,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

In its new policy Cornell warns students that disciplinary action may be taken if protests impede people or traffic, damage school property or interfere with the school\u2019s operations in any way.<\/p>\n

In its campus-wide notice explaining the new guidelines, the school wrote that the new policy would ensure that expressive activity is allowed but must remain nonviolent.<\/p>\n

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, also known as FIRE, has tracked free speech issues on American campuses.<\/p>\n

FIRE and College Pulse<\/a> have produced an annual survey, since 2022, ranking colleges based on their policies and what students say about the free speech climate on campus. <\/p>\n

This year the group reported that \u201calarming\u201d numbers of students say they self-censor or \u201cfind their administrations unclear\u201d on free speech issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollege campuses have always been places where students have been unafraid to express themselves and with the recent Gaza conflict after the 10\/7 attacks, it\u2019s been very heated on both sides of this issue,\u201d said Zach Greenberg, the senior program officer of FIRE.<\/p>\n

Harvard ranked last in this year\u2019s survey. FIRE said the school punished some professors and researchers over what they had said or written, and students reported a poor climate for free speech on campus. <\/p>\n

The controversy came to Congress late last year, when Harvard\u2019s president testified over complaints of widespread antisemitism. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019d find many students on campus right now that would say we are the model for flourishing free speech and ideas exchange in the country,\u201d said J. Sellers Hill, president of Harvard\u2019s school newspaper The Harvard Crimson. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think you\u2019ve really seen that be acknowledged by administrators and it seems to be something they are dedicated to taking on.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the head of The Harvard Crimson, Hill manages the paper\u2019s 350 editors and 90 reporters, who\u2019ve covered, in detail, the ongoing free speech\/protests controversy and the resignation of former President Claudine Gay following her testimony to Congress. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think no one would dispute Harvard has work to do and progress to make,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a tough sell, for me, that Harvard is uniquely in its own league in terms of intolerance of speech. That doesn\u2019t square with what I have seen on our college campus or on other college campuses around the country. I think Harvard is held to a higher standard.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week the University of Southern California canceled the graduation speech of its senior class…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate - International Pulse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate - International Pulse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week the University of Southern California canceled the graduation speech of its senior class...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"International Pulse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-20T15:30:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0a00-0242-4028-08dc614a4356_w250_r0_s.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870\",\"name\":\"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate - International Pulse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-20T15:30:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-20T15:30:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/\",\"name\":\"International Pulse\",\"description\":\"There's a different sound here\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/demo6.aiwalls.com\/automatic-news\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate - International Pulse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate - International Pulse","og_description":"This week the University of Southern California canceled the graduation speech of its senior class...","og_url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870","og_site_name":"International Pulse","article_published_time":"2024-04-20T15:30:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0a00-0242-4028-08dc614a4356_w250_r0_s.jpg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870","url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870","name":"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate - International Pulse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-04-20T15:30:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-20T15:30:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=4870#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US campuses are battlegrounds in free speech debate"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/","name":"International Pulse","description":"There's a different sound here","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/demo6.aiwalls.com\/automatic-news"],"url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?author=1"}]}},"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1.jpg",1200,675,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1.jpg",1200,675,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1.jpg",1200,675,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-1115x675.jpg",1115,675,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/01000000-0aff-0242-6ade-08dc614a434f_w1200_r1-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?cat=9\" rel=\"category\">News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}