Free Speech on Campus

We’re having an interesting philosophical debate in our campus activities department right now, and I thought I would pass it along.

The committee I advise is bringing in a big name comedian.  If you google his name on youtube, many of his videos are funny but very offensive.  Some of this I blame on youtube, as the short video does not allow for a broad view of the comedian’s show and is only viewable in short segments.  The comedian describes himself as an “equal opportunity offender”, and I think he lives up to his billing.  His comments about all races, sexual orientations and even himself are very over the top and touchie to many people.  However, I think that he has a background of growing up around diversity and hopes for all of us to get a sense of humor and learn to laugh at each other and at ourselves.

This program was run past some of the other student leaders on our programming board and they supported bringing the entertainer in.  I personally reviewed the material and had a discussion with the students about how offensive his material might be to some.

The question is…where do we draw the line?  Do we bring a program that will be offensive to some people, maybe even a lot of people?  Is it ethical to shut down free speech even though the students want the person to come?

We released the tickets on Monday and they sold out a 460 seat theatre in a few hours.   There is obviously demand to see this man perform.

I think a lot of this gets back to how you evaluate what a good program is.  Is it good enough to just entertain students?  Should we educate them?  I think you could even connect this show to challenge and support theories within student affairs.

Personally, this is a learning experience.  I can say this might be one of the more controversial programs I’ve ever been a part of.  I’d appreciate any insights into how people handle similar situations.