Liz Garrity Erin Garvey WRD 103 February 20, 2012 All over the United States, universities

have policies on verbal behavior or verbal conduct, which prohibit students from speaking freely. Essentially, they have speech codes that lay out what the students can and cannot say in order to be in compliance with the universities hate speech regulations. Is this fair to the students who attend these universities? I believe that the regulations being set on students speech at universities is ridiculous. According the First Amendment, as US citizens, we are given the right to free speech. We are allowed to have our own opinions and express them if we wish to. The regulations that universities are setting are denying US citizens of their right to free speech. Also, I believe that these regulations are jeopardizing students ability to learn. With these policies, students need to be constantly conscious of their word choice. They need to always be sure that what they are saying in class will not get them in trouble with the university. This will sometimes prevent students from hearing the whole truth about a situation and sometimes even expressing the whole truth. If faculty is required to censor what they say in a classroom setting, they will not be telling the full story and they will be withholding information for students to learn about. Great reference on how it not only limits the students but the teaching Needs a better transition from the previous paragraph to here. The fact that the ability to decide what is considered harassment is given to the one who is being harassed is not fair. Some people in the world are extremely sensitive and can be offended by the smallest thing, and as a result they could make a complaint to their university and get a student expelled. For the

regulations to be even somewhat fair, the university should have preset rules that would be considered harassment and if they were broken, then that would be the point when a student could make a complaint. The way the universities have it set up with students deciding what is harassment and what isnt, then anything could be considered harassment. This is not fair to the students. Being a student myself, it makes me scared to even participate in a discussion that I have strong opinions about. When I am passionate about an argument, the last thing I am thinking about is who is in the room and who will be offended by what I am saying. If I have an opinion, I feel I should have the right to state it without repercussions. I do not want to constantly be thinking about whether the people in my class are sensitive or not. I want to be able to say what I need to say. Nice touch on making it more personal and opinionated here since its a blog but maybe you should think about making it more personal immediately With that being said, I realize that some things are not appropriate in a classroom setting. I understand that some regulations should be set for classroom discussion. For example, I dont think it would be appropriate if the person who is speaking is singling any specific person out and making him/her feel attacked. When stating opinions, you should be respectful of the other peoples feelings, and they should be respectful of your opinion. If a student wants to express their opinion, they should feel safe to do so. Not everyone has the same opinions and people need to realize that not everything people say is going to be the same way you feel. People should not be in jeopardy of being expelled from their university just because someone complained that what someone said offended him or her. For example, the girl from UCLA who posted the video on YouTube about her dislike for the Asian population at her university. She was given all of this hate and it was said that she

should be expelled from UCLA because she was misrepresenting the universitys opinions, but she never once stated that she was saying those things on behalf of UCLA. Important to make your reader distinguish between the two. She was just saying that she attended that university and that was where she was witnessing her problem with the Asian population there. Many people argue that just by being a UCLA student, she is automatically tied to the university and that her opinions reflect the university. I dont think that is fair to the university for people to think that. The university cannot control the views of its students and when the students make statements, it should not be considered reflective of the university. Just like in movies, there is always a screen that says the views expressed in commentaries may not reflect the views of the company affiliated with the film itself and that they belong solely to the individuals. I think people should respect the views of the girl soley, and not assume that she is expressing what the universitys views are. All of the people that were ridiculing her for making this mean video were doing the exact same thing she was. They attacked her just like she attacked the Asian population at UCLA, but they didnt see anything wrong with what they were saying about her. Elaborate more on the double standard of her getting in trouble and not others who did the same to her. She is just an ordinary girl with an opinion just like everyone else in the world. She should have her right to express it when she sees fit. Another example would be the Westboro Baptist Church members. They are a family that does not support gay people. They go as far as to say that fags are the reason that the US is doomed. They do not support the soldiers of the US armed forces because they say that the soldiers are fighting for a country that is doomed because it allows gay people to roam free. Westboro Baptist Church members often stand on street corners with signs saying awful things

about gay people. Also, one of the most controversial things they do, they stand outside soldiers funerals with signs and yell and protest. They have a very extreme opinion. I do not agree with their opinion, but I believe that they should have the right to express it. They should not have to fear being punished for stating what they believe, just because someone else doesnt believe the same thing as them. We are all entitled to our own opinions. It is up to us as individuals if we choose to listen to other peoples opinions or ignore them. When I hear an opinion that I dont agree with, I make an argument against it and if I fail to change the persons mind I choose to ignore them. I do not think it would be necessary to punish them for believing something different than I do. If you wanted you could give an example of how the family does punish people for not believing what they do and talk about the girl who was banished from the family. If I were in charge of making these university regulations, I would keep in mind the right to free speech that we are given as US citizens. I would be sure that the students understood that their rights are respected. Each student that attends a University must be aware that free speech is allowed and that they need to understand the consequences of being at an establishment where free speech is tolerated. They may not hear what they want to hear all the time, but I am a strong believer that people should be able to express how they feel without fear of being punished for it. Also, I would make sure that US citizens are forever given the right of the First Amendment. I hope that no one ever tries to take away our right to free speech as Americans. Strong end to this blog!