The first amendment belongs in our universities

Freshman year of college is hard for any young person. A child leaves home, often for the first time, to face a brand new world of independence and new ideas. While college should be a challenging experience, it should also be an environment open to exploring new concepts and refining one’s own perspectives. Unfortunately, it seems more and more frequently that I hear stories of students who voice beliefs contrary to the school’s, or a particular professor, or the “majority” of the student body’s thinking, and are told to sit down and be quiet, or worse.
I recently heard from one student – a member of her college’s student Senate – who posted a picture of herself on social media wearing a MAGA hat. For that perceived transgression of the school’s “values,” she was stripped of her position by her fellow Senators. Thankfully, after appealing to the student government’s court system, she was reinstated to her position. But the entire affair affected her so negatively and she felt so unwanted and unsupported that she ultimately resigned, determined to never allow herself to be treated with such a lack of respect by her peers again.
I wish stories like this were rare. I wish our nation’s institutions of higher education promoted the airing of different ideas, allowed respectful dissent on campus, and embraced the traditionally liberal philosophies of free, rational thought defended by facts and clear argument. After all, how can students learn when they are afraid of exploring every side of an issue?

The answer is: they can’t. When bright, young minds are silenced by peers, educators, and the very institutions that are supposed to provide them a broad, challenging education, we all lose. America was founded and has been shaped by free-thinking men and women who embraced the radical ideas of their day, stood against the tide, and fought for their own liberation from the tyranny of leaders who suppressed their speech.
That legacy must be protected today, and that is why I recently joined the newly formed Campus Free Speech Caucus to make the American people aware of what’s happening on campuses across America. Institutions of higher education are meant to be places where ideas are tested, students learn critical thinking skills, and everyone explores perspectives outside the bubble of their upbringing.
My purpose in joining this Caucus is to protect the treasured right of free speech for every student, regardless of political or ideological belief. No one should be shouted down or bullied into silence so that the mainstream may live in an echo chamber. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican position; this is an American value. American tax dollars help fund almost every college and university in this county, and no American should be forced to pay for hot beds of indoctrination for any one set of beliefs. I hope bringing awareness to this issue will give marginalized Americans a voice by standing with them in their fight for the First Amendment.