News
Campus grapples with freedom of speech
By Ben Fields ’15
February 27, 2015
The past several weeks have seen the Hamilton community inundated with issues regarding freedom of speech. Two weeks ago, The Spectator reported on the disappearance of the campus publication Enquiry. Since that event, the campus has seen a growth in discussion surrounding the concept of freedom of expression and speech and its boundaries. The school made it clear that it supports freedom of speech in a 1967 faculty statement which says, “Free inquiry and free expression are indispensable to the attainment of those goals to which Hamilton College is dedicated.” Dean of Students Nancy Thompson reiterated this sentiment in an all-campus email on Feb. 19 in which she wrote, “I believe it is essential that this educational community promote free and open dialogue.”
Hamilton has been given a “yellow” rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), an independent organization dedicated to ensuring freedom of speech on college campuses. The “yellow” rating means that the College has “at least one ambiguous policy that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application.” FIRE highlights three “yellow light polices” that it has concerns with at Hamilton: a policy regarding harassment, a policy regarding email restriction and a policy on tolerance, respect and civility. In general though, Hamilton has been given a high rating from the organization.
Both the administration and student body have taken various actions since the removal of Enquiry in support of freedom of speech. Student Assembly passed a resolution in support of free expression on Feb. 16. This resolution was directly in response to the removal of Enquiry and made clear Student Assembly’s support of free expression. The resolution stated that the Central Council of Student Assembly “condemns, without reservation, actions that seek to censor, silence, or otherwise suppress, the free expression of Hamilton College students, groups, societies, faculty, or staff through spoken, written, or published communication.” The resolution also expressed Student Assembly’s hope that all students will “express their differences in political belief in a respectful manner befitting the College’s intellectual heritage.”
In addition to the resolution from Student Assembly and Dean Thompson’s email, Campus Safety has concluded its investigation into the missing publication. The information they collected has been passed on to the Dean of Students office and is currently being handled by Associate Dean of Students for Health and Safety Jeff Landry. Landry said, “The student who allegedly recycled copies of the publication will be referred to an Administrative Hearing. If the student is found responsible for violating a policy in the Student Code of Conduct, they will receive judicial points.” Neither Dean Landry nor Campus Safety commented on the specifics of the case.
Along with issues of freedom of speech, The Spectator has learned of claims of harassment from Enquiry staff regarding their weekly staff meetings. At the Enquiry meeting on Feb. 18, Campus Safety was called and asked to remove a student from the room; the student complied with Campus Safety’s request and left the meeting. The publication has since rebranded itself as “a pro-free speech publication of student opinion.”
As the College continues to address the issue of freedom of speech and expression, the Dean of Faculty’s office will sponsor a panel on the subject on Saturday Feb. 28 at 10:30 a.m. in the Burke Library. Dean Thompson, though, has made the school’s policy clear in her email that freedom of speech is essential to the College. She made a point of noting that even though free speech is important, “rudeness is seldom persuasive.” She also was clear in saying, “There may be consequences for the thing you say; it may make people angry. If you choose to say it, be accountable for it.”