My brother-in-law works campus security and his take on speaker protests surprised me

We were at a family cookout last weekend and he mentioned dealing with a protest over a speaker at his university. He said his team had to form a human barrier between the speaker's group and about 200 students who were shouting. He told me, 'My job is to keep people safe, not decide who's right. But I see kids who think shutting a talk down is a win, and I see other kids who think any protest is an attack on free speech. Both sides think they're defending the school.' It made me pause. I always leaned toward the 'let them speak' side, but hearing from someone who has to stand in the middle of it, the whole thing feels less clear. Is the goal of free speech on campus to have open debates, or is it to protect students from ideas that might cause real harm? How do you even decide where that line is?

2 comments

2 Comments

cole_lee99d ago

Saw a friend get shoved just for holding a sign.

perry.nancy9d ago

Wait, that's assault. A sign isn't a reason to put hands on someone.