National incidents shine spotlight on free speech
Reporting about the SGA, not a record of it: The Johns Hopkins News-Letter published this and the SGA did not write it, file it, or approve it. The archive holds it because the article itself uses the phrase “student council”.
Summary
- This Johns Hopkins News-Letter article covers StuCo’s renewed push for a university free-speech policy after national campus incidents.
- The News-Letter reported that StuCo members revived demands for a comprehensive policy, while a Colorado State University board considered punishment for student editor J. David McSwane; attorney Mike Hiestand said student editors have the right to choose their papers’ content.
- The paper reported that Hopkins’ current policy says “rude disrespectful behavior is unwelcome and will not be tolerated,” which Evan Lazerowitz called “the antithesis of free speech.”
- The article adds that the proposed bill would bar StuCo from restricting students’ speech and ask the University to create a new policy; the council could not vote because it lacked a quorum.
- The reporter writes that Scott Bierbryer called the current policy “very vague,” while Austin Nelson said University funding could pressure groups to follow University decisions.
- According to the article, FIRE legal director Samantha Harris said Hopkins students should have the same free-speech rights as students at public institutions, while Hopkins’ humor newspaper and literary magazine reported no known recent penalties for content.