Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, talks about free speech as an issue on college campuses and in national politics on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 at the University of Tennessee. Rachel Ohm/ News Sentinel.

Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, speaks at the "Understanding the First Amendment on Campus" event Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, at The Howard Baker Center for Public Policy on UT's campus.(Photo: BRIANNA PACIORKA/NEWS SENTINEL)Buy Photo

A free speech forum at the University of Tennessee on Monday touched on First Amendment issues as they have affected the university over the past year, including a controversial tweet made last fallby a professor of law.

"Free speech is one of the most important topics in America today," said Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center and the moderator of Monday's forum at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. "On campus we're seeing dramatic debates about the boundaries between dignity and freeexpression online. We're seeing debates about whether presidents should be tweeting and whether members of Congress should respond. The boundaries of free speech have never been more contested."

The forum also comes as Tennessee lawmakers earlier this month proposed a bill to ensure free speech on Tennessee campuses after the controversial speeches of a former Breitbart News editor spurred protests at colleges around the country.

Two students, two faculty members and an administrator made up a panel that weighed in Monday on various issues related to free speech as they have appeared on the University of Tennessee campus.

Melissa Shivers, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Tennessee, speaks during a panel discussion at the "Understanding the First Amendment on Campus" event Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, at The Howard Baker Center for Public Policy on UT's campus.(Photo: BRIANNA PACIORKA/NEWS SENTINEL)

The discussion mostly focused on a controversial tweet made last fall by Glenn Reynolds, a UT law professor andcontributing columnist for USA TODAY and the News Sentinel, whourged motorists to run over demonstrators blocking traffic in Charlotte, N.C.; and a letter to the editor that appeared in the student newspaper, The Daily Beacon, last spring that took issue with the idea of "safe spaces" on campus.

Barry Hawkins, a UT senior who penned the letter to the editor and a member of Monday's panel, said during the course of the discussion that he hasn't seen any recent barriers to free speech on campus, and faculty and administrators on the panel also said the issue is one that is taken seriously with an emphasis placed on the importance of free speech on campus.

One faculty member not on the panel, however, did express concerns Monday about a lecture scheduled to take place Tuesday at UT's Alumni Memorial Building entitled "How Killing Black Children is an American Tradition."

Mary McAlpin, a professor of French and member of the Faculty Affairs Committee in the Faculty Senate, said during a question-and-answer portion of Monday's forum that she was concerned that funding from three of the four departments sponsoring the lecture had been pulled because the title was "too provocative."

Amy Blakely, assistant director of media and internal relations for the University of Tennessee, said she "was not sure about the specifics of the funding" but that the lecture would still be held as planned Tuesday.

"The challenges are difficult; the lines are hard to draw," Rosen said during opening remarks Monday. "I know how this campus, like campuses around the country is struggling with these issues, but we can unite around them. We can be inspired and take solace in the beautiful tradition that speech is a natural right and our democracy is stronger if we have confidence that bad speech will be driven out by good speech."

Brittany Moore, president of UT Black Law Students Association, speaks during a panel discussion at the "Understanding the First Amendment on Campus" event Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, at The Howard Baker Center for Public Policy on UT's campus.(Photo: BRIANNA PACIORKA/NEWS SENTINEL)

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