Engaged & informed

Madison Center fosters conversation on freedom of expression

By ELEANOR SHAW The Breeze

The James Madison Center for Civic Engagement hosted the first session in its new Freedom of Expression Information Series on Tuesday to discuss the interaction of free speech and inclusivity.

The Zoom event — Freedom of Expression, Public Speech and Speakers — was facilitated by David Kirkpatrick, interim executive director of the Madison Center, and featured Kara Dillard, interim associate director of the Madison Center; Angelina Clapp (’20), the Center’s graduate assistant; and Gabriela Leija-Hernandez (’21), a Woodson Martin Democracy Fellow.

Prior to the session, participants were asked to submit their questions for discussion. There were 41 participants in total — a mix of both JMU faculty and students.

Kirkpatrick and Leija-Hernandez began the session by introducing the First Amendment, as well as starting discussions about three Supreme Court cases — Healy v. James (1972), United States v. Alvarez (2012) and Texas v. Johnson (1989). The purpose of this was to introduce certain restrictions to freedom of speech and how it applies to a university setting, which set the stage for the remainder of the discussion.

“Free speech is not necessarily a license to say [anything], but the university may have some restrictions,” Kirkpatrick said. “There are very minor restrictions that allow us to function as a democracy and a university.”

Kirkpatrick and Dillard spoke about how free speech may conflict with the goal to create an inclusive campus environment.

Dillard said she works to help groups at JMU “deliberate together” and encourages community members to share their stories.

Dillard presented various tools for navigating conflicts between free speech and inclusivity, including prioritizing the safety and well-being of students, affirming the value of diverse ideas and upholding absolute free speech. Dillard said while each of these options has its benefits, each has its drawbacks, including the isolation of students into “like-groups,” justification of “bad ideas” and implied support of offensive ideas. Dillard encouraged participants to use and analyze these options whenever they face conflict.

Dillard then presented “deliberative questions” to encourage intrapersonal and interpersonal discussion among participants prior to the presentation of pre-submitted questions.

“These questions get students talking and get students thinking,” Dillard said. “It helps them see we can talk together about an issue that could divide us.”

For the remainder of the event, Dillard and Kirkpatrick opened the floor up for discussion. The ability to restrict free speech on university campuses remained a major theme throughout the discussion.

The discussion covered restrictions on on-campus protests, the limits placed on guest presenters, what precedents universities set, faculty members’ free speech online and constructive classroom discussions.

“These issues are deeply divisive, but we can find a way to discuss them together,” Dillard said.

Participants both expressed their opinions and addressed their experiences within JMU as instructors, faculty members or students — several of which Kirkpatrick encouraged to speak.

“We have several different identities that are operating at JMU and they will all, at some point, be reflected in the anti-discrimination statement,” Malika Carter-Hoyt, a participant in the session and JMU’s vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), said.

Dillard closed the event by sharing an anecdote of an experience with a student who was concerned about expressing her political views on campus and how encouraging open conversation helped the student overcome her reluctance.

“Those are the kind of things … that I want my students to take away,” Dillard said. “That we can navigate in a world where we can come together to solve our problems.”

CONTACT Eleanor Shaw at shaweo@dukes. jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.