Free Speech Under Assault Across Virginia
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34 responses to “Free Speech Under Assault Across Virginia”
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If the governor is not welcome then cut off the state money!
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At the larger schools, it wouldn’t be missed, and a small price to pay to have possible cause to sue to remove a governor’s appointments to the BoV.
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The Provost did not say that what he heard or thought he was about to hear constituted ideas “abhorrent and antithetical to our core values as a university.” Although in his own words, it should not have made a difference, it would be instructive to know. For now he gets to live in a world where he gets to virtue signal that he believes in free speech but also virtue signal that he thinks pro-life ideas are beyond abhorrent. He shouldn’t be allowed to hve it both ways.
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Why not? Saying that someone should be allowed to voice certain views and then saying that those views are abhorrent are not mutually exclusive positions.
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In fact, it’s almost a necessity.
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#DefundVCU
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I see a lot of worthless folks claiming to be on the right but do 0 when it comes to standing up for this.
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Doesn’t Michael Rao understand what a university is supposed to stand for and promote? His silence is just another example of his being a leader in wokism. He also must not be a strong supporter of the First Amendment or perhaps even the Constitution.
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The events at VCU should not have played out the way they did. It is acceptable to picket a speaker with whom you disagree, but it is not OK to shut that speaker down with shouts and obscenities. And President Rao should strongly condemn those who disrupted the event and instruct the Campus Police to protect the right of those who have been invited to speak at college events.
What I object to is the tendency of folks on this blog to imply that the left, “progressives”, or whatever term is used for those who have opinions opposite of this blog, have a monopoly on “voices of intolerance.” Those folks either have a short memory or ignorance of history. It was not that long ago that liberals or the left-wing were harassed and threatened. One example would be the protests against the Vietnam War. If you want some recent examples of conservatives trying to shut down opinions they don’t agree with, see: https://fee.org/articles/the-assault-on-campus-free-speech-doesnt-just-come-from-liberals/
Two wrongs do not make a right. But neither side has a monopoly on virtue on this issue.
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“freedom of speech” does not guarantee that you can go anywhere to any venue and exercise your “speech”.
And not even if the venue is a govt facility.
Speakers have been hooted, heckled and shouted down for a long time – going all the way back to the founding fathers themselves!
Others also have “free speech” and they can exercise it at the same time you are exercising it and they do.
I’ve watched many a Board of Supervisor meeting where people “free speech” was booted out the room. You get your 3 minutes, maybe… as long as you behave and then after that your mike is cut off and after that, a deputy comes for you. If you don’t have 3 minutes and stand up to exercise your free speech, you are immediately escorted out the room – cancelled – yes.
This is a made up issue by folks on the right these days IMO.
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The left is trying to distract average folks from looking at the growing body of evidence, connecting the dots and concluding that the modern-day left is intent on shutting down speech it doesn’t like. IMO.
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Having to follow rules on public comment periods is not being cancelled. The rules are the same for those for and against a position.
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The rules? Oh yes, they’re the same.
The application? Not so much.
And yes, that would be an accusation that the rules are only applied in the keeping of the sensibilities of a late-aged white rural conservative, i.e., with bias.
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Anyone else looking to take over the job? Rural conservative? Twenty years rural and twice that in urban life in Philly, New York and L.A.
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Suburban Philly, New York, and… well L.A. is all suburbs.
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Kensington, Feltonville, Oxford Circle were not suburbs. Part of NY in Little Neck for a year or two was, Court St. in Brooklyn, most certainly not, Canoga Park, Burbank, Glendale not suburban. Last place had a whopping 10,000 ft of property, but only there a couple of years. Sorry to ruin your theory.
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One has to wonder then, “ What’s a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting and with zero Southern root, why the investment in and staunch defense of the Mathews monument to the Confederacy?”
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I’ve selfishly indulged this diversion for a bit of fun, and I will stop myself here. You make an assumption about my roots, and it’s a memorial to the war dead, not the Confederacy.
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Sleep tight.
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Well Dick, the Vietnam War ended half-a-century ago. All the events Jim wrote about happened this week.
If you want to assert that modern-day conservatives attack free speech with the same frequency and intensity as modern-day progressives do, be my guest.
I’m not implying anything here. I’m asserting that modern-day progressives are much more prone to shutting down speech they don’t like than modern-day conservatives are, especially on college campuses. I base that assertion on lots of available data.
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Check out the link I provided in my comment. It reports on contemporary efforts of conservatives to silence those with whom they disagree.
I would like to see the data upon which you base your assumption.
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“I would like to see the data upon which you base your assumption.”
Nope. Open your eyes and look around. It’s not my job or responsibility to convince you of anything.
You make your assertions, I’ll make mine and we’ll let the audience decide who they find more believable.
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I can’t fault the activists for disrupting the event. They knew that Richmond has a progressive Democrat City Council, DA and media. So, they reasoned (correctly, it seems) that they could get away with this.
Interested in why a group who is attempting to revoke the rights of one group should demand the group counter to them respect their rights…
You do not have an unalienable right to deliver a commencement speech. The school’s job is to pick a speaker the graduates can enjoy. When that many students protest, the school chose unwisely.
GMU pleased their law school and economics department at the expense of every other student.
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Where all those signatories students? How many were graduating? GMU has 35,960 students.
Hi, I’m (insert name of candidate here). I’m tired of wokesters running amok in Virginia state colleges, and I’m especially tired of woke or spineless administrators who won’t do anything about it. If you elect me in November, I will make it my mission to hound these wokesters and try to run them out of our state college system. And, if they won’t go, then we’ll cut off their money. I’d rather pay for a policeman or nurse or teacher than a woke administrator, any day of the week. How about you?
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So, you would “hound” those you disagree with and “try to run them out of our state college system.” How does that make you any better than the the progressives that you complain are trying to shut down speech they don’t like?
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Administrators who don’t stand up to these woke bullies are allowing the quality of state education to degrade. One of the most important things a state can provide its citizens is access to a high-quality higher education system. Taxpayers pay handsomely for that.
These administrators are not doing their jobs. They are allowing a hostile environment to not only exist, but flourish. And taxpayers are paying them to do it.
You’re also twisting my words—I hope you’re not doing it deliberately. I’m not calling for people I disagree with to be hounded out of public education. I’m calling for hounding out of public education administrators who won’t do their jobs, and who allow a hostile environment to exist on the campuses of state-supported universities.
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Apparently, President Rao issued the following statement to the VCU Board and “internal VCU audiences.” Jay E. Davenport,
Vice President of Development & Alumni Relations, passed this along to an intermediary, who forwarded it to me.
Two people were arrested Wednesday evening after there was disruption of an event in the VCU Student Commons. The student organization “Students for Life at VCU” invited a pro-life speaker to its meeting, which was open to the public and attracted about 70 people.
The meeting was disrupted by the unruly conduct of some attendees, and VCU Police were called at about 5:40 p.m.
VCU Police arrested Natalie Hoskins, III, 22, of Richmond and Anthony Marvin, 30, of Richmond. Hoskins was charged with simple assault and Marvin was charged with disorderly conduct. Neither is affiliated with VCU.
VCU is committed to promoting a safe environment for our students, faculty, staff and visitors so that the right to gather and speak freely is protected. The overwhelming majority of events at VCU take place without incident, so we are disappointed that a student organization’s meeting was disrupted Wednesday night.
We must extend dignity and respect to others, especially those with whom we disagree. VCU remains committed to free speech and civil discourse, values that strengthen our academic mission and our dedication to the success and well-being of our students, patients, faculty, staff and community.
The bold face is either Rao’s or Davenport’s — I’m not sure whose.
What’s interesting here is that Rao is drawing attention to the two outsiders who were arrested. That is a fact worth noting. But Rao has created an impression that is odds with the social media reports of the incident. “VCU Police were called at about 5:40 p.m. VCU Police arrested Natalie Hoskins, III…”
That phrasing suggests that the police were called in and promptly made an arrest. That is not what happened. The police were present during much of the disturbance. The public should demand a more candid accounting of what happened that evening.
Apparently, President Rao issued the following statement to the VCU Board and “internal VCU audiences.” Jay E. Davenport,
Vice President of Development & Alumni Relations, passed this along to an intermediary, who forwarded it to me.
Two people were arrested Wednesday evening after there was disruption of an event in the VCU Student Commons. The student organization “Students for Life at VCU” invited a pro-life speaker to its meeting, which was open to the public and attracted about 70 people.
The meeting was disrupted by the unruly conduct of some attendees, and VCU Police were called at about 5:40 p.m.
VCU Police arrested Natalie Hoskins, III, 22, of Richmond and Anthony Marvin, 30, of Richmond. Hoskins was charged with simple assault and Marvin was charged with disorderly conduct. Neither is affiliated with VCU.
VCU is committed to promoting a safe environment for our students, faculty, staff and visitors so that the right to gather and speak freely is protected. The overwhelming majority of events at VCU take place without incident, so we are disappointed that a student organization’s meeting was disrupted Wednesday night.
We must extend dignity and respect to others, especially those with whom we disagree. VCU remains committed to free speech and civil discourse, values that strengthen our academic mission and our dedication to the success and well-being of our students, patients, faculty, staff and community.
The bold face is either Rao’s or Davenport’s — I’m not sure whose.
What’s interesting here is that Rao is drawing attention to the two outsiders who were arrested. That is a fact worth noting. But Rao has created an impression that is odds with the social media reports of the incident. “VCU Police were called at about 5:40 p.m. VCU Police arrested Natalie Hoskins, III…”
That phrasing suggests that the police were called in and promptly made an arrest. That is not what happened. The police were present during much of the disturbance. The public should demand a more candid accounting of what happened that evening.
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Clearly, the equivalent of driving a shiny new white Dodge Challenger into the crowd…
I see a pattern proving once and for all that Euro-centric White supremacists are the root of all evil and violence against those they disagree with… oh wait…. never mind…..
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