[(0\tK STOW
Bn Matt Helms, The State Sews, Mic higan State L1.
The Supreme Court once again has stood strong behind the
First Amendment What will it mean to campus speech codes?
ometimes Doug S» heidemantel feels drletiselexs
I If lights lulled mosds — die i old, urn aring vote r lh.it veils
"faggot" through the phone lines in Ins Mulligan Stale t
tesideiue lull loom, the deiogaloiv scrawl in black market
at loss Ins door.
And he lights the tear that lories him to question the
intolerance behind the vm ailed t nines that make him a mi tint
ol Isolds and expressions,
"It's like I should Ik- beyond this lear,” S< heidenuniel viss "But I'm
not, and it's stnking .”
S< heidenuntel i alls hnnsell a mi tun l util this sumniei. so did the
|listu e system
But a june Supieme ( omt iiiling dtsiiiantlilig a hate s(kci h otdinani e
in nearhi Minnesota is Ion mg i ollegex and universities nationwide to
lethmk then hate spree h |m>Iu it-s, a move that plai es these tanipuses al
the forefront ol the battle.
"In developing rai ial harassment provisions that target s|K-ei h. the
campuses have been al the tutting edge.” sas-s Maik (> Yudoi, dean of
the lass v liool at the l'. of I exas, Austin "All these i .imposes are laird
svitli some chokes — they i an aliohsh (lute sjk-ci h codes) 01 seme mote
general ones. I nless sou have a really general provision, it renders all of
them on puhlu i .imposes unconstitutional.”
Bui without hate speech codes, students like S< heidenuntel now vis
lhe\ have even less ammunition to light the hatred
V heidenuntel remembers seeing that word — lag — ai loss lusdoorway
I fe rememlK-is wondering whs And feeling align And feeling v .tied
“I don't think that a lot ol times people realize the impact ol what
dies 'it vising.” lie viss
Bui Philip Suggs, a graduate student at Howard l . viss the ignoi .iuie
Isrhind hate speei hdoes not |ustils curbing it.
"Most ol these (H-ople who commit rat e-hate crimes are doing snout ol
frustration,” Suggs viss "li tells me dies are not on lopol then game Bui
the ( ainxt tuition viss jK-ople luse a right to vis that, even in ignorance.”
Jiisiu e Antonin S< alia, in writing the opinion lot the < ourt. sa\s the
government walks a line line in preserv ing tree s[k<-c h
In the St Paul, Minn., tase, an ordinance harming displays ol rai ial
bus, the goveinment went Iik> I.ii , the court ruled
I hus the tilling eflec tisels destrosed the ordiiutice and i ast doubt on
the vahdits of state lasss that punish jk-ipetratotsol < tunes mote srveieh
■I then aits appear rat ulls motisateii.
But pei haps more dramatic alls, hate sjseei h c iwles at hundreds ol
i .imposes have Ik-c ii put on hold, .0 administrators ss.ut anxiousls to see
it then (Kiln ies must Ik- revised.
“When it comes to college s(k-c-c h c ikIcs, n nulls is a death knell, viss
Paul Denenleld. legal director of Michigan’s American Civil l.dx-riies
t'nion
Ill i hr wake i >1 i hr (In ink in, < ollegrs .mci universitiesat loss thr country
.in- st t ambling lo redefine thru hair spcec h codes on thr hit’ll court s
terms
1 hr l tif Mu lug,111 is onr ol thr (list m hi x>|s n > rcintrrpirt its c (airs. In
June, Michigan abandoned its so-called hair sprrt h polic v, which
banned sjk-ch h “whrn a student inlrntlonalh uses rat lal, ethnocentric or
sexual inset lives, epithets, slurs or utterance dim llv to atlat k 01 injure
another mtlivitlual rather than rxpirssor discuss an idea, ideology ol
philosophy "
Msa lade, l ol Michigan grnri at counsel. sa\s am at lion taken
against students under the <odc has been suspended in light ol the
Supienie ( a mi t i ul ii in Hie university is in the pros ess i it cr eating a ness
tiKie in line with the Supreme ( ourl’s guidelines
Ihit Kale lox. president ol the 1 ol Mulligan Student Assembly, savs
students will lie uuiet eptive to any s|k-<-( h code the adnunistraUon hands
them.
"Tile nature ol the administration has hern quite leprevsrve, v> I think
am kind ol rules about non at adeniir condut t will not Ik- ret rived well,"
she says “We all leal the possibility that they would tome at let us lor
having different ideas,"
fox savs hale spreeh codes in general ale useless to the extent that they
curb speech.
“It's realh society that tear lies people to attack others in speech," savs
Fox, a senior in anthiojyology. “Having a < ode won’t get rid of it."
Besides, college campuses t an survive without sjieet h codes. says John
( -also, a gi.ulu.ite student in puhlit adininrstration and law at New Yoik l
N\T does not have a condut t code with sjh-c ilii restrii live tategorres
ol hate s|H-er h ( -ilvo savs the univeisity has no need for one.
“I suppose we've had a really long history ol tolerance on campus," he
saw "Other v bools need to move in that direction. It'sgoing to In-1rally
haul at first, hut most will lie able to come upwith polic ies."
And many are trying.
At l r, Austin, administrators have sent then hate speech |>olicv to
general counsel lor review Sharon |usti<e. dean of students, savs
university-sponsored mediation between the victim and perpetrator
sm i exslulh has halted 15 ol about Ih re|Kitted i .Lsesol hate i rimes.
But l’. ol Wisconsin officials sav the university will not i hange its hale
speech |k>1kv at this time.
Patricia llodulik senioi legal counsel lot the Wisconsin system, savs
the (ioluy will iemail) m place lot now. although the Wiseonsin Hoard ol
Regents is si heduled to review it in Septemliet
But that leaves die Wisconsin (ode in ilux until then, and senior Mary
Whitt say s the delay is unsettling for students
“If something were to hap|>en. what would the administration do. how
would they handle it?" she vivs “They (an’t irally do nine h with the code
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