Student Clashes on Campus

Repressive Legalism: How Postsecondary Administrators’ Responses to On-Campus Hate Speech Undermine a Focus on Inclusion

“…Other analyses address theoretical arguments about when hate speech crosses the line into violence (e.g., Hartman, 1993; Karst, 1990). Others, guided by the U.S. Supreme Court's precedent in this area, outline the thorny and complicated legal parameters of what is protected, and not protected, in educational settings (e.g., Hutchens & Fernandez, 2018; Kaplin, 1992; Karst, 1990; LaBlanc et al, 2020; Sun & McClellan, 2020). Public institutions, for example, can impose “time, place, manner” restrictions on speech in public spaces, as long as the restrictions are applied across the board and not based on the content of the speech.…”

“…These include Ben-Porath’s (2017, 2020) notion of “inclusive freedom,” which considers the importance of protecting free speech, in order to protect democracy, while recognizing the equal need to promote inclusion and rejecting the false choice between the two principles in light of the unique responsibility postsecondary institutions have to promote both. Others, like Sun and McClellan (2020), advocate for approaches that, while attentive to current legal precedent, reflect principles of education, openness, discipline, and caring in order to address the tension between free speech and inclusion. Finally, Moore and Bell (2019) advance other calls for a reframing of institutional responses to hate speech on campus that focus on the rights of students of color.…”