We will be reading a short selection from Jon Gould's book Speak No Evil which examines campus speech codes and related controversies. Such controversies are frequent occurrences, one is now active at Bergen Community College. It is also worth comparing a campus speech code like Bergen's proposed code to the Canadian hate speech law considered in the last post.
Updated: And this is a good example of why some people push for hate speech codes.
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I have read the article and I actually agree with college on this instance. It seems as if the college has a serious problem with race relations. The policy would increase penalties, therefore acting more sternly as a deterrent. The college should edit the policy to clarify what they believe respect and dignity to entail. I also disagree with the professors who believe "[the policy] would make it a punishable offense for a conservative student not to “embrace and celebrate” the ideas of Michael Moore or for a liberal student not to do the same with Ann Coulter." You can easily disagree with someones ideas while giving them respect and allowing them to maintain their dignity. I could see if a liberal student had a policy opinion during a class discussion and was answered with "you flaming liberal moron that would never work you asshat." Yeah that would be against the policy and that student should be punished. But there are ways to respond with embracing and respecting the others idea, such as "I understand your point of view but..." I in no way see this policy as limiting any serious debate or limiting any protected speech issues.
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