The College Republicans student group at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) claim an event featuring New Hampshire congressional candidate Karoline Leavitt (R) was restricted due to the speaker being deemed “controversial.”
“We were first made aware of this ‘controversial speakers’ policy when we were trying to host Karoline Leavitt,” Ky Urban, president of the SNHU College Republicans, told NH Journal. “The administration eventually let us host an event with her. But they limited it to SNHU students only, which reduced the number of people who could attend.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) says that “instead of providing a policy detailing the mechanics” for the group to invite speakers, “SNHU told Urban the university must substantively review and approve all proposed speakers to ensure they ‘are not so controversial that they would draw unwanted demonstrators’ to campus.”
“But that’s not what SNHU’s free expression promises say,” FIRE continued. “SNHU unequivocally promises students an environment which sustains the ‘ideals of freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of the individual.'”
“Having made those strong promises, the university may not lay them aside when the expression in question could lead to controversy,” the organization added.
The university responded to FIRE by insisting it needs to review speakers before they are invited to campus, in order to prevent controversy, the organization said.
FIRE, however, says it is not confident that SNHU’s policies for events on campus are compliant with the First Amendment.
“It is not the speaker’s responsibility to cabin protected yet controversial expression to prevent protests. Instead, it is up to the university to ensure a safe environment on campus when demonstrators object to speakers’ views,” FIRE said in a letter to the university.
The organization added that “expression is not free when authorities must approve of the speakers and viewpoints expressed.”
“Shutting down expression due to controversy or the possibility of it improperly endorses the ‘heckler’s veto’ — a form of censorship that shuts down speech due to the actual or potential hostility of recipients and/or ideological opponents,” FIRE said.
Fear of controversy appears to be a new concern among universities in this ever-increasingly irascible society, where woke students attempt to shut down free speech via mob rule.
Recently, a mob of leftist students attacked a Turning Point USA campus event featuring Tomi Lahren at the University of New Mexico, resulting in the state police being called to the scene.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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