According to Campus Reform, “A sign that says ‘Abortion is Murder’ constitutes prohibited ‘hate speech,’ according to officials at Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Texas, who ordered a pro-life group to remove such a sign earlier this month.”
This incident occurred on October 14th at a private college in Texas.
The so-called incident involved the student organization ACU for Life, which involved tabling.
The sign in question by the officials read Abortion is Murder. Disagree? Let’s talk.
The school officials ordered the removal of this sign, stating a basic conservative viewpoint, and warned that failure to comply would result in discipline.
“The website LifeNews published several videos documenting the students’ encounters with two officials, John Mark Moudy, the assistant director of student services, and Lyndi Felan, the dean for retention and student success. Both Moudy and Felan called the sign “hate speech.”
Felan, who clearly didn’t seem to believe in respect for conservative values, declared, “You can’t have this”!
Felan later called the sign hate speech, to which the students responded by asking for a definition of “hate speech.”
This increasingly popular term has led to much debate in contemporary society.
Public information on ACU policies contain few mentions of “hate speech” though the university does refer to it a serious violation.
According to Campus Reform, “The university’s Table Reservations page for students says activities are “subject to staff approval,” without further elaboration.”
As a result of this incident, Ryan Richardson, the vice president of student life,basically told students that tabling is not meant to foster conversations on what he calls “controversial issues”.
In response to the university’s attack on free speech, students have formed ACU for free speech and started the circulation of a free speech petition.
Eventually, school authorities admitted to an “interaction,” saying, “The university has been supportive of the ACU for Life organization and has provided tremendous encouragement for their work.”
In addition, after Campus Reform published information about the interaction, the university contradicted its earlier statement, saying, “To be clear, the university does not believe the sign represented hate speech.”
One can only hope that in the future, universities will spend less time policing speech and basic conservative views.
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