Debates over the 1st Amendment on college campuses

By Wayne Edwards,

Kevin Chang Barnum, Khalilah Brown-Dean, Meg Dalton, Catie Talarski

Published May 1, 2024 at 10:49 AM EDT

Photograph of Wesleyan students sitting in front of tents inside the on-campus encampment called the “Wesleyan Liberated Zone.” — With over 300 students in attendance and 60 students who camped overnight, Wesleyan students created an on-campus encampment called the “Wesleyan Liberated Zone” in protest of the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. Student organizers have created a list of demands asking the university to “divest any and all investments from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli colonization, occupation, and apartheid fueling the genocide of Palestinians,” and will not leave until the demands have been met.

This hour on Disrupted, we’re looking at the First Amendment and its impact on colleges and universities.

Students are demanding their schools divest from Israel over its war in Gaza. Some colleges have allowed protests with police presence, while others have forcibly removed demonstrators. There have been allegations of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian speech at some protests — and that’s left many wondering how to address harmful speech without curbing free expression.

First Amendment Specialist Kevin Goldberg explains the five protections covered in the amendment. Wesleyan University President Michael Roth talks about his role as a university administrator and how to provide safe spaces for students.

GUESTS:

Kevin Goldberg: First Amendment Specialist, Freedom Forum.
Michael Roth: President, Wesleyan University and author of Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness.

This episode originally aired on February 7, 2024.

Disrupted is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.