Guest speaker got silenced at UC Davis last month and I was there

I was at the free speech rally at UC Davis on March 12 where they brought in a conservative commentator. The crowd got so loud with chants that nobody could hear her talk for 15 minutes straight. People around me were cheering about drowning her out but I thought that was the opposite of free speech. She ended up leaving early after only getting through 5 minutes of her planned 30 minute speech. I get disagreeing with ideas but shouldn't we at least let her finish? Has anyone else seen this happen at their school where heckling wins?

2 comments

2 Comments

gray_schmidt89d ago

Nah, if you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen.

abbyc339d ago

What I've found with that saying, @gray_schmidt8, is it really only works if everyone agrees on what "the heat" means from the start. I've been in situations where someone thinks they're being direct, but the other person just sees it as rude and walks away. You have to remember that not everyone has the same tolerance for criticism, and sometimes you lose good people that way. If you're going to use that line, make sure you've already set clear expectations about how you talk to each other. Otherwise you're just burning bridges for no reason.