With Keene State College President Melinda Treadwell recently bringing up the topic of free speech on campus, the editors of The Equinox are left wondering where the line should be.
Treadwell has mentioned wanting more free speech, debate and discussion on campus in a community struggling with division. She mentioned this on her radio show for WKNH “Campus Corner” and in a letter to the editor to us.
We feel this is a great sentiment to have. The freedom of speech is incredibly important and allowing others to express their beliefs, even if we may vehemently disagree with them, is a terrific goal to have.
Oya Hill is known as the “free speech” zone on campus. Anyone can come on, speak their mind and hand out pamphlets without needing to reserve a spot like one would need to table in the student center. We think even having an area that is considered a free speech zone on campus is amazing and helps Keene State College stand out as a beacon of promoting democratic values.
Although we believe the freedom of speech is an inalienable right everyone is entitled to, we also believe certain things can push boundaries a little too far.
Certain limits should be put in place to make sure radicals and stochastic terrorists are made sure they have no place on campus. By radicals, we mean those who are extreme to the point of harming others such as the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazis. These people will pedal lies on people who might not care much, but be enamored by feeling they can take action by eventually harming others. This should be absolutely discouraged.
First and foremost, the editors of The Equinox are journalists and to protect journalism we must also protect the freedom of speech. However, as journalists we have a moral obligation to combat and condemn misinformation and blatant disinformation. One way to do this would be to protest speakers who can vaguely be dog-whistling harmful ideologies. Another way is to openly debate these people so an audience can see for themselves who the reasonable person really is.
The ultimate problem of censorship lies within the Streisand effect. If an idea is suppressed an excessive amount people will wonder why and maybe even think it is cool and want to take part in it. This can result in censoring harmful ideologies being more problematic than just letting crazy people speak their mind.
We do believe the college should have a vetting process for who can be tabled in the student center. This is not much about the issue of freedom of speech, but rather about who is safe to allow in the student center.
It is ultimately a great thing for the freedom of speech to be prioritized on campus. As long as anyone can speak their mind and be disagreed with as well and no one is harmed we will support the freedom of speech.
