How far should free speech on campus go? – Cincinnati.com

UC students, along with The Irate 8, join national anti-racial silent protests. The Enquirer/Pat Brennan

Students and community members protest before a speech by nationally syndicated columnist George Will at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio Wednesday October 22, 2014. Groups on campus are protesting Will's comments on trivializing the problem of campus sexual assault and rape in October 2014.(Photo: The Enquirer/Gary Landers)Buy Photo

Politically charged student protests are nothing new. However,as tensions erupt at campuses liketheUniversity of California, Miami University and Middlebury College the right to free speech gets complicated.

Beyond Civility, a localnonprofit organization, is hosting a programon May 30 to discuss campus protests, public safetyand free speech.

Local university leaders and community members will explore the issueof our desire for respectful speechand First Amendment rights on college campuses.

Participants from the University of Cincinnati,Mount St. Joseph Universityand Miami Universitywill also discusshow universities respondand the roles of the peoplein the middle, which includesstudents, faculty and administrators.

Beyond Civility, which was founded in 2012 in Cincinnati, is working to bringcitizens and civic leaders together to reduce divisive communication, so that even when opinions are polarized, a useful conversation continues, rather than being shut down with combative language. Then,reasonable, evidence-basedcompromises can be explored.

Thomas Jefferson famously said of the University of Virginia,"this institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it."

Beyond Civility is hosting this program to talk about thesharp contrast between this quote and the political correctness that is commanding attention on college campuses across the country.

When: Tuesday, May 30

Who:The panelists include Verna Williams, interim dean of the UC College of Law; James Williams, president ofMount St. Joseph University;JuanGuardia, UC dean of students;John Paul Wright, a UC professor;and Miami University studentNick Froelich.

Where:St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church,320 Resor Ave., Cincinnati, 45220

RSVP:Online at http://mailchi.mp/c940da9d75eb/campus-protests-public-safety-and-free-speech

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How far should free speech on campus go? - Cincinnati.com