UW-River Falls to host speakers about free speech May 6

 

Speakers with FIRE to discuss importance of civil liberties on college campuses

 

April 25, 2024 – As civil liberties challenges are playing out in real time at colleges across the country, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls will host two speakers on May 6 with a nationally known organization to discuss the importance of first amendment rights on campuses.  

Graham Piro and Gabe Walters, with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), are scheduled to speak on first amendment rights and the vital role they play in a college setting. The event, at 6 p.m. Monday, May 6, in the Falcon’s Nest of the University Center, 501 Wild Rose Ave., River Falls, will include a Q&A session and is free and open to the public. 

FIRE’s mission is to defend and protect the Americans’ rights of free speech and thought. The nonpartisan organization educates about these rights, promotes open discussion and respect, and advocates for preserving them. 

Piro is program officer for FIRE’s campus rights advocacy team; Walters works on the organization’s legal team.

“Right now on campuses, the first amendment is really being tested,” Piro said. “At all times and especially at times like this, it is vital that people understand the importance of first amendment rights and what they protect.”

In recent months, administrators at some colleges and universities have taken actions to shut down or otherwise hinder student organizations that have staged campus events to protest Israel’s war on Palestine. Other free speech issues also have surfaced at campuses in recent years in Wisconsin and elsewhere around topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion; mandatory diversity statements; and how much control professors have over what they teach in their classes. 

On those subjects and others, free speech can provide a means of discussing issues, even controversial ones, in a civil, thoughtful manner, Piro said. 

Wesley Kisting, UWRF dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, wanted to bring FIRE to the university to facilitate discussion of the importance of first amendment rights on college campuses. As a nonpartisan, highly respected organization, FIRE lends discussion of civil liberties a high degree of credibility, he said.

Higher education is built upon the idea of a free and open discussion of issues and oftentimes involves challenging ideas or perceptions, Kisting said. Real or perceived efforts to curtail such discussion poses a threat to education and to American society at large, he said. 

“This topic is especially important now, in this highly politically divided time,” Kisting said. “Without robust, open conversation, higher education cannot work the way it is supposed to, and it can constrain the development of good ideas.” 

While free speech and civil liberties currently face challenges on campuses across America, Piro said he still hopes that people can come together to respect a wide range of viewpoints. Doing so now is especially important given the current divisive climate, he said. 

“Free speech should be something that people on both the left and the right can agree on,” Piro said. “We hope our presentation will be able to allow people to shed some light on the importance of the first amendment on college campuses and prompt a climate that promotes free speech.”