First Amendment rights are debated at Adams State College

(11-26-2007)

Is a college or university within First Amendment rights to limit the speech of their students and faculty? This question, posed by Brooke Andrade, instruction/reference librarian for Nielsen Library, started the debate during the Adams State College First Amendment Forum on Nov. 14 in the Adams State Theater Building.

The forum's panel included Dr. George Backen, assistant professor of philosophy; Dr. Mari Centeno, assistant professor of government; Dr. David Mazel, professor of English; Dr. Stephen Roberds, associate professor of history, government, and philosophy; Jim Pfaff, director of the Colorado Family Institute; and Andrew Ward, Adams State senior.

The forum was one event in the ongoing The Fahrenheit 451 project, under the direction of Dr. John Taylor, associate professor of theater. The project is in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read.

"What better place to discuss First Amendment rights than on a college campus," Taylor said.

Taylor asked Andrade to organize and moderate the First Amendment Forum. She said the forum was well-timed on a national level. "Across the country debates are being formed to raise awareness on freedom of speech," Andrade said. "Those rights are fought daily."

For almost two hours the panel answered questions posed by Andrade, including issues about the NEA funding to artists; is virtual child pornography illegal; do members of a community have the right to remove books from school libraries; does the White House have the right to remove dissenters from the Presidential rallies; the Federal Communications Commission's ability to fine stations for allowing expletives to be aired; and in the case of Ward Churchill - do professors have an obligation to teach a wide range of viewpoints, or should they be allowed to discuss only what they believe to be true in the classroom.

The First Amendment itself was addressed by many of the panelists. Pfaff said "The First Amendment was designed to protect us from the government." Centeno said when the First Amendment comes into conflict with the 14th Amendment a line can be drawn to limit free speech. Mazel agreed, "The First Amendment is only one amendment from an entire document. An individual's freedom of speech ends when it takes away the Constitutional rights of others."

During the debate regarding Churchill's case, Backen said professors have a strong influence over their students, "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my professors." Roberds disagreed, saying, "A professor has some influence on students but it is not in isolation. We don't have any Rasputian-like power to bend our students to our will." Ward added, "Professors have the power over students because they decide the grade."

At one point, Pfaff, said he was against government funding of the arts. Taylor spoke up, saying, "If it wasn't for the National Endowment for the Arts, we would not have had the funding for this debate."

Approximately, 100 people attended the debate. "It was a good audience," Mazel said. "They actively listened and appeared interested in the issues and the panel's answers."

By Linda Relyea