Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Yet another Student Association is attempting to silence conservatives by closing “free speech loopholes” on campus. This time, a pro-life display on University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s (UWM) campus led offended students to call their Student Association to action against conservatives. The Student Association is now considering legislation to shut down ideas it disagrees with or finds offensive by closing so-called loopholes to free speech. SLF intervened and sent a letter to the Student Association and school administrators, reminding them that they have a duty to uphold the First Amendment rights of all speakers on campus.
The Student Association’s actions are just another example of a student government targeting and silencing conservatives on campus by calling their ideas “hateful.” But as SLF warns the Student Association, as the representative body of UWM students, it is bound by the First Amendment.
“Contrary to popular belief, offensive speech is fully protected by the Constitution,” says 1A Project Director Cece O’Leary. “It is only through open discourse that we can actually learn and grow. That means colleges must welcome all ideas, even ones that are downright hateful.”
SLF continues to monitor the situation on behalf of conservative students.