My Alma Mater American University Cancelled My Title IX 'Hate Speech' Panel - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Elizabeth Nolan Brown:
September 29, 2107 - "I was supposed to participate in a panel at my alma mater, American University, on feminism, free speech, and Title IX.... But in the days leading up to the event, the AU chapter of American Association of University Women organized a campaign to 'Keep Our Campus Safe,' describing the panel as 'hate speech' and 'violence'....
"The panel was put together by spiked as part of its "Unsafe Space" tour.... The event on American's D.C. campus was to kick off the tour, with me, spiked's Ella Whelan, former ACLU chief Nadine Strossen, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education director Robert Shibley on a panel moderated by spiked Deputy Editor Tom Slater.
"Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) was the student group hosting the event, and was in charge of making arrangements with the campus. An auditorium had been secured since summer, but a few days before the event AU administrators told YAL that the space was no longer available and then that the panel had to be canceled altogether.
"Annamarie Rienzi, D.C. chair of YAL and one of the student organizers of last night's event, told me that the school claimed it came down to YAL classifying the panel as a 'meeting' rather than an 'event.' But this is standard practice for YAL and other student groups, she says, when a talk or panel does not involve bringing paid speakers to campus or providing refreshments....
"The event went on ... in ... Reason's D.C. office.... We talked about how Title IX proceedings ... encompass a range of other areas that can have nothing to do with sexual activity or violence, and that can seriously jeopardize academic freedom and (often liberal) professors' livelihoods. Whelan talked about how Title IX proceedings and the general sexual climate on campus can infantilize female students and take women's progress a step backward.
"Shibley argued that Title IX had had many positive accomplishments before it was, only recently, expanded to its current form under the Obama administration.... I talked about how it's the feds, much more than any minority of illiberal students, who are forcing campuses into absurd 'safe spaces' ... rather than face steep fines or lose the ability to participate in federal student-loan programs....
"It was especially disappointing to learn today that this may have been provoked by a women's student group severely misrepresenting the event.... Here's how the American Association of University Women (AAUW) of AU described the spiked panel: 'The Unsafe Space Tour is coming to AU. What do they want to talk about? Completely revising and undoing decades of work by activists around campuses across the country to make campuses safer for victims of sexual violence'.... [I]t added: 'A note on First Amendment rights to free speech: AAUW at AU fully supports free speech. This does not mean we support forcing marginalized students to [experience] hate speech and other forms of violence and trauma'....
"After learning that AU had canceled the event, the group posted (twice): 'We are STOKED to announce that the Unsafe Space Tour has been canceled at AU! In their words, they, 'got word of resistance from some campus groups.' Good riddance! Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in [the "Keep Our Campus Safe" counter-event] and spoke out.'"
Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/09/29/au-campus-safe-from-title-ix-hate-speech
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September 29, 2107 - "I was supposed to participate in a panel at my alma mater, American University, on feminism, free speech, and Title IX.... But in the days leading up to the event, the AU chapter of American Association of University Women organized a campaign to 'Keep Our Campus Safe,' describing the panel as 'hate speech' and 'violence'....
"The panel was put together by spiked as part of its "Unsafe Space" tour.... The event on American's D.C. campus was to kick off the tour, with me, spiked's Ella Whelan, former ACLU chief Nadine Strossen, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education director Robert Shibley on a panel moderated by spiked Deputy Editor Tom Slater.
"Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) was the student group hosting the event, and was in charge of making arrangements with the campus. An auditorium had been secured since summer, but a few days before the event AU administrators told YAL that the space was no longer available and then that the panel had to be canceled altogether.
"Annamarie Rienzi, D.C. chair of YAL and one of the student organizers of last night's event, told me that the school claimed it came down to YAL classifying the panel as a 'meeting' rather than an 'event.' But this is standard practice for YAL and other student groups, she says, when a talk or panel does not involve bringing paid speakers to campus or providing refreshments....
"The event went on ... in ... Reason's D.C. office.... We talked about how Title IX proceedings ... encompass a range of other areas that can have nothing to do with sexual activity or violence, and that can seriously jeopardize academic freedom and (often liberal) professors' livelihoods. Whelan talked about how Title IX proceedings and the general sexual climate on campus can infantilize female students and take women's progress a step backward.
"Shibley argued that Title IX had had many positive accomplishments before it was, only recently, expanded to its current form under the Obama administration.... I talked about how it's the feds, much more than any minority of illiberal students, who are forcing campuses into absurd 'safe spaces' ... rather than face steep fines or lose the ability to participate in federal student-loan programs....
"It was especially disappointing to learn today that this may have been provoked by a women's student group severely misrepresenting the event.... Here's how the American Association of University Women (AAUW) of AU described the spiked panel: 'The Unsafe Space Tour is coming to AU. What do they want to talk about? Completely revising and undoing decades of work by activists around campuses across the country to make campuses safer for victims of sexual violence'.... [I]t added: 'A note on First Amendment rights to free speech: AAUW at AU fully supports free speech. This does not mean we support forcing marginalized students to [experience] hate speech and other forms of violence and trauma'....
"After learning that AU had canceled the event, the group posted (twice): 'We are STOKED to announce that the Unsafe Space Tour has been canceled at AU! In their words, they, 'got word of resistance from some campus groups.' Good riddance! Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in [the "Keep Our Campus Safe" counter-event] and spoke out.'"
Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/09/29/au-campus-safe-from-title-ix-hate-speech
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