c/banned-on-campus

The one thing that stuck from my 'hate speech' debate class

Last semester at UT Austin, I had this debate class about campus speech. One guy kept saying we needed 'safe spaces' from every hard topic. I asked him about a specific homeless man who yelled at me near the student union last fall. He just stared and said 'that's different.' Never got a real answer why.

Shoutout to my poli sci prof who warned me about the 'no fly list' thing

Last semester at UT Austin, my professor Dr. Chen told our class that if we posted certain meme formats with specific hashtags, the university's automated filter would flag us. I thought she was being paranoid. Then three weeks ago, I shared a screenshot from that climate protest last year, and my campus account got locked for 48 hours. No warning, no appeal, just an automated email. She was right about the exact keywords too, one of them was in my caption. Anyone else had a professor call something out that ended up being totally accurate?

I overheard a dean planning a 'chill room' for silencing debates

I was grabbing coffee near the admin offices last Wednesday and heard a dean talking about setting up a 'chill room' in the student union. She said it would be a place where students could report anyone making them 'uncomfortable' during class discussions. Another staff member mentioned they already have a list of 12 topics that should be avoided in group projects to 'keep the peace.' This made me think twice about what's really going on here. Has anyone else heard about these rooms being put in at other schools?

Got kicked out of a library study room for talking about a news article

Last Tuesday at City College library, I was reading a print copy of a local paper with a buddy and started discussing an opinion piece. A librarian came over and told us we couldn't talk about 'divisive topics' in the quiet study zone, even though nobody else was on our floor. I pointed out the article was just about zoning laws, but she said any political discussion was banned there. Has anyone else run into a campus rule that blocks basic conversations about public issues?

Finally stood my ground on a banned book at my campus event

Last semester I was helping organize a small free speech fair on our quad. The student activities board told me I had to choose between putting out a table with either "The Handmaid's Tale" or "Maus" because they said both were too "divisive" for a public event. I pushed back hard and picked "Maus" since it was already getting pulled from some schools near us in Ohio. The board ended up letting me keep it but only if I added a disclaimer sign next to it. About 30 people stopped by over the 4 hours and only one person complained about the comics format. Honestly it felt good to see students actually reading something that someone tried to hide. Has anyone else had to fight for a specific book at a campus event like this?

Vent: Had a prof shut down a debate about campus parking fees because it got 'too heated'

Ngl this one stuck with me, a kid in my poli sci class tried to argue the fees were just a cash grab and the professor said we were moving on because it wasn't a 'productive discussion' about 3 minutes in. Has anyone else had a professor just kill a topic because they didn't like where it was going?

Hot take: My school hit 15 speakers disinvited in one semester, should we be counting?

TIL my university had a 'speech code' hidden in the student handbook for over a decade

Honestly, I never read the fine print when I signed up for classes back in 2019. Then last semester, I posted a meme about a professor's grading being unfair on a group chat. Next day I got an email from the dean saying I violated a rule against 'disruptive communication' that's been in the handbook since 2011. Nobody told us about it during orientation, and now I check every single policy before I say anything online. Has anyone else found weird rules buried in their school's paperwork?

Spent $200 on a speaker reservation that got cancelled day of

I paid $200 to reserve a room at State College for a speaker on free speech last month. They cancelled it 24 hours before because of "safety concerns" and kept my money. Has anyone else had a venue pull this on them?

Had a professor shut down a debate about campus parking fees in front of 80 students last fall at UMass

I was sitting in my Intro to Poli Sci class in September, and we were talking about how the school spends student fees. A kid raised his hand and asked why we pay $400 a year for parking passes when faculty park free. The professor cut him off mid sentence and said that topic isn't relevant to the syllabus and we need to stick to the textbook. Then she moved on to the next slide like nothing happened. The whole room got quiet and nobody said a word for the rest of the hour. Has anyone else had a teacher just block a simple question like that?

The day I realized my history prof was right about that guest speaker ban

Back in 2019 at community college in Portland, I used to think blocking speakers was just kids being too soft. Then this guy came to campus pushing some stuff about immigration that was just flat out wrong on the numbers, and the school shut him down. I was mad at first, but after reading through his actual sources, they were from a site that's been debunked like ten times. Now I'm the one telling people to check facts before they argue about free speech. Has anyone else had a moment where you actually agreed with a ban after looking into it?

Just saw the actual stats on what gets 'problematic' speakers invited to my old university and it made me flip my view

Found out from a public records request that my college spent over $12,000 in security fees for just one controversial guest speaker last semester, while student groups for less flashy topics got denied space, and now I'm wondering how many events I assumed were 'banned' were really just too expensive to host?

That time a professor shut down my debate club meeting over a topic she didn't like

I was setting up a discussion on campus housing policies at State College last fall, and the faculty advisor walked in, canceled the event, and told us we couldn't talk about it because it might 'offend the administration', so I ended up hosting it at a diner off campus with 12 people where we actually got somewhere - has anyone else found a workaround like that when your school clamped down?

Question about paying for a guest speaker who got shut down

I dropped $400 last semester to bring in a former professor to talk about free speech on campus. The event was approved ahead of time by the student activities office. When the speaker started talking about specific court cases, some students yelled over him for about 2 minutes. A dean came in and just ended the whole thing, saying it was too disruptive. I tried to get our money back but the school said no because the booking was non-refundable. Has anyone else lost cash on a campus event that got canceled for speech reasons?

Watched a speaker get cut off mid-sentence and realized I was the problem

I used to defend free speech on campus until I saw a guy get 3 words into a point about housing costs and a dean shut him down just because he mentioned a controversial group. Made me think: was I actually okay with speech I disagreed with, or just the stuff I liked? Has anyone else caught themselves being a hypocrite like that?

That speaker at the Berkeley free speech rally last month was cut off for using the wrong words

I was standing right there near the stage when he started talking about illegal immigration and they just pulled the mic, but he wasn't yelling or threatening anyone so isn't that the exact kind of speech these events are supposed to protect?

Hot take: I was the problem in my poli sci class debates the whole time

I used to argue with everyone in my intro to political theory class about free speech on campus, thinking I was the one getting silenced when people wouldn't engage. Then after year 2, a professor pulled me aside and said my debating style was just shutting people down with facts and aggression instead of listening. Anyone else figure out they were the reason discussions died in a class setting?

Visited a small college in Ohio where they locked up the student newspaper archive

I was poking around the library at Oberlin last week and the archivist told me the administration sealed off 3 years of student papers from the 1990s because they covered a protest that got too messy. Has anyone else run into a school actually hiding old media like that?

My history professor shut down a debate over a simple number

Last semester in my US History 201 class, I brought up that only about 25% of colonists actually supported the American Revolution, and the rest were neutral or loyalist. The professor cut me off and said that statistic was 'revisionist' and not appropriate for class discussion. I found that number in a book called 'A People's History of the American Revolution' by Ray Raphael, which cites data from historian John Shy. She told me to stick to the textbook, which barely mentioned loyalists at all. It felt like she was more interested in protecting a certain story than letting us explore the full picture. Has anyone else run into a professor who just refused to let you mention a specific fact or figure?

Got roasted by a professor for citing Wikipedia in a poli sci paper

During my sophomore year at Ohio State, I turned in a 5-page paper on campaign finance and cited Wikipedia like 3 times. The prof wrote "are you kidding me" in red ink across the top and gave me a D. I switched to using Google Scholar and the campus library database after that. Has anyone else had a teacher absolutely wreck them for bad sourcing?

Changed my mind about free speech zones after last month

I used to think free speech zones on campus were fine, a way to keep things organized. But last month at my school, a guy tried to hand out flyers about the administration's spending just 20 feet outside the zone. Security told him to move into the zone or leave. That zone was this tiny patch of grass behind the library where nobody goes. It clicked for me that the zone isn't about organizing speech, it's about hiding it. Has anyone else had a similar moment where a rule suddenly seemed wrong?

Hit 100 posts on a campus free speech blog and got a threatening email from admin

I started a blog last fall covering cases where student speakers got shut down at our university. Hit 100 posts this week documenting things like canceled talks and flyer removals. The surprising part was getting a formal email from the dean's office warning me about "disruptive content." Never expected to get that kind of attention for just reporting what happens. Has anyone else had their school push back on free speech reporting like this?

Got told my pro-life flyer was 'hate speech' at orientation

I was handing out flyers about the campus pregnancy center at freshman orientation and a student senator ripped them out of my hand and said I was banned from tabling there. I decided to just stand outside the gates instead, and ended up talking to about 15 people who actually wanted to hear what I had to say. Has anyone else found a workaround when your school shuts down your table spot?

Got shut down by a professor for asking about opposing viewpoints in a poli sci class at Ohio State last semester.

I raised my hand to ask if we could discuss the other side of an argument about campus carry laws and she told me that perspective wasn't welcome in her classroom, so I just sat there for the rest of the hour wondering if anyone else has dealt with a professor flat out refusing to let you question the material.

Pro tip: Don't assume free speech rules at private colleges are the same as public ones

I keep seeing people online complaining about getting banned from speech at their college and then citing the First Amendment. But like half the people posting here are at private schools. The First Amendment only applies to public universities. Private colleges can make whatever rules they want. I learned this the hard way when my cousin got expelled from a private Christian college in Ohio for posting something critical about the administration on Facebook. He kept saying they violated his rights but legally they didn't. It sucks but it's true. Anyone else notice this confusion happening a lot?