Page 10
May 8, 2019
PCC to Fill Board Vacancy
Portland Community College
will soon be one person short on
its seven-member board of direc-
tors.
Valdez Bravo, representing
Zone 5 in southwest Portland and
Beaverton, is stepping down after
being elected to the post in 2017
because she is moving out of the
district, college officials said.
PCC is now accepting pplica-
tions from interested candidates
living in Zone 5 to fulfill the two
years remaining in the post, which
covers the base of PCC’s oldest and
largest campus, Sylvania Campus.
Interested candidates are en-
couraged to forward a cover letter,
resume, list of references, and let-
ters of recommendation (optional)
to Jeannie Moton, executive co-
ordinator for PCC’s Office of the
President and Board Directors,
at jeannie.moton@pcc.edu or by
mail to PCC-Board of Directors,
P.O. Box 19000, Portland, OR
97280. The deadline to apply is
Friday, May 24, at noon.
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GOD BLESS
The Real Threats to Free Speech on Campus
A disregard for
the humanity of
students
g loria o laDipo
The school year
may be winding to
a close, but the tired
argument about “at-
tacks on free speech” on college
campuses is alive as ever.
According to Donald Trump,
liberal universities like Berkeley
are allowing conservative stu-
dents to be “assaulted” for shar-
ing their beliefs on campus. To
combat such violations, Trump
signed an executive order re-
quiring colleges to “protect free
speech” or risk losing federal ed-
ucation funding.
I’m delighted to alert Trump
and all those with similar con-
cerns that free speech on cam-
pus, on both sides of the political
aisle, is doing just fine — to a
point.
College campuses, now more
than ever, are home to a variety
of organizations with differing
political views: pro-Democratic
and pro-Republican organiza-
tions, Students for Justice in Pal-
estine and Students Supporting
Israel, as well as other organiza-
tions with conflicting viewpoints.
More specifically, college
campuses are fairly accommo-
dating spaces for conservative
students.
To date, no campus has banned
any form of Trump paraphernalia,
nor has any college persecuted a
student for wearing pro-Trump
symbols. College campuses rou-
by
tinely host conservative speak-
ers: Cornell hosted Dick Cheney,
while the University of Baltimore
had Betsy DeVos speak at their
commencement ceremony,
among other examples.
Outside organizations ac-
tively use their influence to
make sure conservative stu-
dents have their perspectives
represented. Many conserva-
tive organizations are well fund-
ed by Republican politicians and
wealthy Republican families.
Additionally, conservative news
outlets such as Breitbart and the
National Review regularly publish
articles demonizing universities
they say aren’t doing enough to pro-
tect their version of “free speech,”
which appears to mean shielding
campus conservatives from any
kind of criticism or protest.
When the president and oth-
er conservatives talk about the
precarious state of free speech,
they’re often referring to efforts to
stop hateful speech on campuses.
They’re angry that Milo Yian-
nopoulos wasn’t allowed to speak
at Berkeley when he was planning
to out undocumented students,
putting them at risk of deporta-
tion. They’re angry that a student
organization from Cornell Univer-
sity canceled conservative speaker
Jannique Stewart because of her
blatant homophobia.
College campuses have always
been willing to host dialogue,
even when it’s difficult. Howev-
er, the president’s and other con-
servatives’ demand that outside
speakers be permitted to freely
antagonize the most marginal-
ized students on their own college
campuses shows a complete disre-
gard for the safety and humanity
of students.
So is free speech in jeopardy?
Yes, but not in the way that con-
servatives traditionally conceive
it.
Contrary to the usual story,
many leftists within universities
are persecuted for their beliefs.
Lisa Durden, a black professor
formerly at Essex Community
College, was fired after defending
a black-only Black Lives Matter
event on Fox News. Jim Stump,
a former professor at Bethel Col-
lege, was fired for defending evo-
lution compared to the university’s
predominantly creationist beliefs.
Trump’s executive order itself
— and the outside intimidation
that conservative publications ex-
ert on students — represents an
actual attack free speech. Student
groups, often made up of people
of color and other marginalized
demographics, are constantly de-
monized for organizing to stop
hate in their communities. While
conservative students speak free-
ly, those in opposition to homo-
phobes and racists are silenced.
Free speech, including hateful
speech, has consequences — in-
cluding freely spoken responses
of anger and protest from others.
Students shouldn’t be expected to
be idle in response to hate speech.
Instead of shaming and cen-
soring progressive students, more
should be done to protect those
who protest, fighting against hate
and for their own humanity.
Gloria Oladipo is a sophomore
at Cornell University and a per-
manent resident of Chicago. She
can be found writing and fighting
@gaoladipo on Twitter.