UWRF has mixed reactions to the UW System policy on free speech

“It’s complicated, man.”

That is how sophomore Mamu Hashim described the free speech climate at UW-River Falls.

The UW System Board of Regents recently approved a new policy on freedom of expression. The policy suspends or expels students that disrupt “the free speech of others/functioning of the institution” two or more times. This policy has garnered mixed reactions from students and organizations at UWRF.

Young Americans for Liberty President AJ Plehal said that he supports the policy. “It’s important to have a diverse set of opinions as long as we can discuss our differences civilly," he said.

“It’s one thing to protest a speaker peacefully - that’s protected by the first amendment,” Plehal said, “but it’s another thing to do what we see at UC-Berkley … where you have students throwing trash cans, just causing an all-out riot.”

Plehal made his point on this clear: “If they’re going to cause a riot just because they disagree with someone – if they have to be expelled, we’re all adults here. They should grow up. I’ll support that.”

In a statement provided to WRFW and the Student Voice, College Republicans vice-chair Melanie Meyers voiced her support for the policy. She said that their organization welcomes “the respectful sharing of ideas and debate on our campus.”

Meyers also said that “there has been evidence within the past year that this sentiment is not shared across all student organizations in this state.”

Meyers cited the incident at UW-Madison when Ben Shapiro spoke in November 2016. Members of the audience shouted Shapiro down during the question-and-answer portion of his speech. At one point, audience members crowded his podium.

While some students support this new policy, others do not. Sophomore Halley White said that she isn't in support of what the UW System has put in place.

“I feel that it impedes on the right of free speech. As citizens, we have a right to protest,” White said. She also said that while students have a right to protest, they need to do so peacefully while also maintaining respect for others.

“There have been many times where I felt like I couldn’t express my opinions or thoughts in class because I knew there would be at least one student who would belittle me,” White said. "Even if what I said was relevant to the conversation and harmless.”

However, White also said that she did not think that everyone understands what freedom of speech is. “Freedom of speech does not mean you can say whatever you want without consequences.”

Sophomore Mamu Hashim said that these issues of free speech need to be addressed on the UWRF campus.

"We can go talk about it, but if we’re not going to do anything about it, nothing is going to change,” Hashim said. “But I hope that they do something.”

“I feel like the policy doesn’t go as far as it needs to and that can change,” Black Student Union president Lamah Bility said.

Bility says that the policy lacks specific guidelines for handling situations where disruption happens on a personal basis rather than towards a guest speaker. He cited a situation this semester of an individual spreading hate towards a specific race.

“We had three or four instances where kids were Snapchatting and saying certain things about just being black in America. It was a bunch of racial, hurtful stuff,” Bility said. “Yes, that person has the right to say whatever they want to say, but at the same time you have to be able to realize these are sensitive issues in our community.”

Bility also expressed concerns over how the policy was created.

“When you are planning the policy, make sure that you have many diversity in the room,” Bility said. “Make sure that people are well represented before you make a policy that would affect peoples' lives.”

Assistant Chancellor of Student Affairs Gregg Heinselman also voiced similar concerns. “Quite often policy makers aren’t the individuals on a campus that are required to the code and enforce and interpret the policy," he said.

Heinselman also said that the policy has brought specific difficulties in its implementation at UWRF.

“I don’t really think the policy was needed … I think our student misconduct code, our academic misconduct code and our non-academic misconduct code, I feel, appropriately addresses those issues,” Heinselman said. “I think this policy really layers on top of that, probably complicates it more than what we had before.”

Heinselman explained that the complications for the policy come from the wording. The policy only cites a "disturbance" as grounds for suspension or expulsion. He says that everyone has a different definition of the term "disturbance."

Heinselman reaffirmed the university’s commitment to protecting it students while also protecting free speech. He said that UWRF has specific policies in place that help train and educate faculty on how to conduct courses so that diverse points of view can be discussed.

Heinselman said that while UWRF tends to be fairly neutral on some of the more controversial issues, he hopes to see more discussions around these topics, particularly free speech.

“The way to address free speech," he said, "is more speech."