A philosophy/journalism major gave us the tour. At one point, we arrived at a location which was designated for free speech, and the tour guide noted that it was one of X number of locations in the entire state which was specifically designated for totally free speech.
He didn't say, "Isn't it great that we have this area for free speech? That's why I love America."
And he didn't say, "Which raises the question, why aren't there more spaces designated for free speech in our state?"
No.
He provided a warning to us that we need to be very careful how we use that speech area. Twice. He warned us twice that we should self-censor, and maybe decide not to exercise our free speech rights in the designated free speech location.
Honestly, he treated that free speech zone as if it were a deadly weapon. He did not seem to be happy that it was there.
This is a journalism major, mind you. And, he doesn't want you to be using your free speech rights.
He lost me for the rest of the tour. I wondered how I could possibly justify sending my kid to that school. And then I wondered if the other schools teach the same, but just hide it better.
Very sad if so.
My kids accuse me of being the 'bad Dad', in that when confronted with idiocy such as this, I can't help but open my big trap and sometimes embarrass them. Glad I wasn't on that campus tour.
Not sure why you are hiding the identity of this place. They deserve to be outed.
Like Frank, below, during his son's thesis presentation. Nonetheless, I was a hair's breadth away from saying something.
How about that, though? In America, you have to worry about whether people in authority over your children think you support free speech too much.
I outed the university below. It was the University of Missouri.
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The average IQ of both states would go up.
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I guess free speech is OK as long as you agree with it. Students at Queens College in NYC blocked Israeli ambassador from speaking, same thing at UC Irvine when protestors blocked film from being shown. All by Palestinian groups and their supporters. Do they have a gripe, sure they do, but this blocking speech you disagree with is bullshit. Same as law professor at Harvard who lost deanship because he joined Harvey Weinstein defense team. They have been accurately compared to people in town who hated Atticus Finch for his defense role in Mockingbird and John Adams' role in defending British soldiers.
Trigger warnings, safe speech zones, I hope the real world isn't too much of a shock for these folks.
just to stifle it, rather than refute it.
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Bad comedy and hippies on the other hand.......
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From Alabama to Nebraska...from Texas to Ohio. This time it was Missouri...and even then, we only considered a tour because we were sort of nearby. Total waste of time. Amazing how a school can embarrass itself in under 5 minutes.
But, then, I already knew Missouri had a poor reputation when it came to the first amendment, based on that journalism professor they had who was trying to use force to stop journalists from covering a public protest. (How do you even begin to make sense of that?)
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With my prior wording, I can see how Baron might have thought it was a university in a midwestern state, instead of a state university in the midwest.
Did he refer to the student with invectives as he has done here?
No need to get so personal. It takes guts to publicly stand up and speak your mind because of these kinds of assumptions. He also has integrity.
My hope is that all of us here can all have a beer at a tailgater together
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