Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Stephen Fogg Saundra K. Schuster speaks at the Free Speech workshop Monday in Rudder Theatre. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Stephen Fogg During the presentation Monday in Rudder Theatre, Saundra K. Schuster asked the crowd to participate by answering and posing questions of their own. [Click to enlarge]

Texas A&M's first Free Speech workshop attracted students interested in learning about the First Amendment and how the rights presented in it affect college campuses and their respective student bodies. Distributed over the course of two sessions Monday in Rudder Theatre, "Following Up On Free Speech: Balancing Freedoms and Our Aggie Values" drew a crowd of more than 500.

Carol Binzer, director of student life programs and vice-president for student services, helped organize workshop in coordination with C.J. Woods, director of multicultural services, and several student leaders.

"This is the first free speech workshop of this magnitude in my experience, and I've been here since 2002," Binzer said. "It's certainly the first time the president has sponsored one."

Binzer said Murano was anticipating a large audience. She also suggested that the workshops were inspired, in part, by the Anti-Obama Carnival that took place on campus in October.

"Certainly the YCT business is the most public issue, but we've had several over the past years, including other smaller flare-ups," Binzer said.

Using an interactive format, students were presented with clickers and packets containing biographical information about the speaker, Saundra K. "Saunie" Schuster. Also included in the packets were copies of "Fire's Guide to Free Speech on Campus," which were given to the University free of charge by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and the U.S. Constitution, as provided by Representative Chet Edwards.

Throughout the lecture, students were asked for their opinions on several hypothetical situations and used the clickers to present anonymous information that was immediately turned into a graph and displayed on the screen.

Factually-rich and statistics driven, Schuster's lecture focused on helping students, faculty and staff distinguish the fine line separating a constitutional right from an opinion on what constitutes a right in one's personal life. Students attending the workshop commented on what free speech means to them.

"The freedom of speech is founded on respect. If people don't agree, you can respect their opinions," said Elise Graham, a sophomore marketing major. "We must 'agree to disagree' and not be volatile. We must use our speech for positive reasons."

Slides containing images of students exhibiting their First Amendment rights on controversial topics were shown to the audience at the start of the workshop. A series of audible gasps ensued as students observed signs that read "God hates fags" and graphic images portraying aborted babies.

After the images were displayed, Schuster explained that certain types of speech are not to be prohibited by faculty in the University community.

"Your administration cannot prohibit speech that is offensive, hateful, vulgar or rude," Schuster said.

Schuster said one in four people could name five or more characters from the hit TV show, "The Simpsons," but only one in a 1,000 could name all five liberties guaranteed to each U.S. citizen by the First Amendment.

The elements of free speech not constitutionally protected include fighting words, obscenity, true threats, incitement to imminent lawlessness, racial and sexual harassment, and defamation. Schuster highlighted specific court cases that have exemplified the violation of these rights in action.

Robert M. O'Neil, founder of the Center for Protection of Free Expression, said, "The guiding principle for virtually all institutions of higher learning is that free speech must be protected, even when the speech for which freedom is sought may be offensive, disruptive or at variance with the campus mission."

The workshop was held in accordance with the teachings of FIRE. The event placed emphasis on the idea that even though campus administrators and scholarly individuals within the college community claim to place emphasis on the freedom of speech, many of the nation's academic institutions are encouraging quite the opposite.

In the organization's passed out at the beginning of the workshop, authors David French, Greg Lukianoff and Harvey Silverglate contend, "At most of America's colleges and universities, speech is far from free, and fashionable ideas are not tested, but instead, are forced down the throats of often unsuspecting students."

In Monday's first workshop, President Murano said she came from Cuba, a place where the concept of free speech does not exist.

"The First Amendment is the reason why most people come to America. You have all these freedoms that other countries do not have," said sophomore finance major Allison Royse.

While many students reflect on the teachings of the workshop, a professor at Texas A&M offers an explanation on the knowledge gained as a result of the First Amendment event.

"I learned a lot about tolerance: the idea that even if you disagree with someone, you should accept their right to say it," said Ben Duncan, a lecturer of the English Language institute.

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