Cal Poly has had a long history with FIRE. Some even say if Cal Poly hadn’t decided to dig in their heals on a case of a student posting a flier for an approved speaker… FIRE may have not developed such early traction on the protection of free speech in American colleges and universities. There is no doubt they are on a roll!
FIRE continues to evaluate every university on the basis of first amendment, including issues of how protected free speech is handled on campus. FIRE designates a simple Red-Yellow and Green light to each university to signify the university’s support of the first amendment. There is a simple scale: Green is good and Red represents a very unfavorable climate for students in the area of speech. There are many great stories of authoritarian administrations and their virtual chamber of horrors. Nonetheless, Universities are not without humor, some going so far as banning the consumption and/or flagellation of a banana publicly in a sexual way. Unfortunately, other Universities have been far more draconian, some forcing students out of their dorms … with at least one living in their car during a cold and snowy winter … all over issues that were constitutionally protected. It goes without saying that the universities involved didn’t win these issues and paid off with the hard earned money of the taxpayer.
On college campuses, it is never the administration or the majority that needs protection, it is always the minority voice. Cal Poly has come a long way from it’s RED light days and currently sits at a YELLOW light. There is hope on campus that with a new president and a new administration tone, that maybe, Cal Poly will be a GREEN light university.
Greg Lukianoff coming to Cal Poly February 7th is a very good sign.
Roger