Iowa State’s anti-free-speech policies threaten Democrats and Republicans alike ahead of caucuses – Washington Examiner

Students at Iowa State University are effectively being muzzled by campus administrators, barred from using their campus email to advertise political events and barred from chalking campus sidewalks with political messages.

Imagine being a politically active college student in a state with an early primary or caucus and being unable to engage or mobilize peers to attend candidate town halls and rallies. Its a crushing thing and a missed learning opportunity for students, candidates, and undecided Iowa voters.

This blatant affront to free speech aside, Democrats and Republicans alike, both students and the campaigns they support, are at a disadvantage heading into caucus night if the university continues to enforce chilling speech policies that prohibit students from engaging in political advocacy.

Student groups have for years hosted political candidates ahead of the Iowa caucuses. And, if anything, Democrats have more to lose due to Iowa State's policy this year because the Democratic caucus is competitive, whereas the Republican caucus is not. Either way, though, this issue should infuriate and galvanize people on all parts of the political spectrum.

In addition to the policies directly restricting political advocacy, Iowa State administrators created a Campus Climate Reporting System (think bias-response team) to monitor and stop speech deemed inappropriate. Students are now less likely to voice their opinions because they know the school might investigate them if they express a politically incorrect view.

College is supposed to be an environment where students can argue for what they believe in and engage in honest intellectual debate. It is not a thought prison to be policed by busybody administrators.

But at Iowa State, a combination of policies directly restricting constitutionally protected speech and systematic efforts to enforce these policies has created a particularly chilling effect on students, who are left to worry about what they can say permissibly.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech. That Iowa State is silencing its student body isnt a Republican or a Democratic problem, its a problem all face, and it threatens the integrity of our political process.

Its for this reason that Speech First, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving campus free speech, recently filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Central Division, requesting injunctive relief on behalf of numerous Iowa State students active in club politics.

In other words, the organization is requesting the court to order Iowa State administrators to abandon their anti-free-speech policies ahead of the Iowa caucuses next month so that students missing out on important parts of the political process are free to exercise their First Amendment rights.

Iowa State University and its officials have created a series of rules and regulations designed to restrain, deter, suppress, and punish speech concerning political and social issues of public concern. And they do so despite Iowas role as the first in the nation to weigh in on presidential primary elections, reads the case.

At a time when our nation depends on the political advocacy of students across the political spectrum to help shed light on candidates political viewpoints, administrators at Iowa State are instead robbing students and the nation of the opportunity to get to know and advocate for the man or woman who will influence policy that will affect the public for years to come.

As Nicki Neily, president of Speech First, said, Many students learn about meet-and-greet events because events have traditionally been promoted through chalking and by banning these advertisements and emails, students are missing out on major civic participating opportunities.

Denying Iowa State students their constitutional right to free speech isnt the way to kick off a presidential election year. Nor is this the legacy administrators should want to bequeath to the next generation of university students.

The district court responsible for adjudicating this case should issue the injunctive relief and let Iowa State University students advertise political events to their hearts' content. The United States and her students will be better off because of it.

Teri Christoph is the host of the Smart Girl Politics podcast and is a fundraising consultant.

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Iowa State's anti-free-speech policies threaten Democrats and Republicans alike ahead of caucuses - Washington Examiner