University Of Illinois Political Ban May Extend To Students

Students and professors at the University of Illinois decided to rally for Barack Obama on the Urbana-Champaign campus Thursday to make clear their stand on an increasingly controversial question as the November elections approach: Is it legal for employees and students at state colleges to express support for political candidates while on campus?

The university's administration has sparked outrage by telling faculty, staff and graduate students that a 5-year-old state law designed to prevent state workers from campaigning for candidates on state time or with state resources meant they could not express support for candidates or parties through pins, T-shirts or bumper stickers while on campus. Nor could they attend any political rally or event on campus, the administration said.

"They're trying to control our bodies and our voices any time we're on campus. These policies are clearly a violation of our 1st Amendment rights," said Dan Colson, an English graduate student who, along with other students, professors and free-speech experts, has lashed out.

Read the entire article here.

Comments

[Wiredwilly]

We live in a curious place called AMERICA . It's not the place of some bullshit University to deny Citizens the inalienable Rights guaranteed in the Constitution. INALIENABLE mean CANNOT BE TAKEN AWAY FOR ANY REASON. Not the Government, not some College, not the President, not Wall Street. The People have aright to Peacefully assemble & have the Right to Free Speech. Screw U of I.

[davidsandiego]

letterman cronicles.

gotta love these.

http://davidfromsandiego.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/letterman-cronicles/

[avehicle4changedotcom]

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[editrix66]

This was instituted because of the corruption in the George Ryan administration in which it was expected for state employees to contribute to campaigns to keep their jobs. Of course, rules always go too far, and now university employees are being told that they cannot park in university parking lots with an Obama sticker on their cars. I completely understand why the rules say not to campaign on state time and harass one's fellow employees, but not being able to express any political ideas when it does not take away from your job goes too far. Since Illinois is Obama country, and there is no hope for McCain to win in Illinois, I think the main motivation is overzealousness and the desire to be "impartial." It is like "zero tolerance" laws, the rules are so strict as to be ridiculous.

[research]

Since Obama is widely popular with young students, the GOP operatives are trying to slow it down.

[demobydefault]

I understand the law extending to employees on the university when they're IN CLASS. Even though I think it sucks, I can see why a state-funded school would object to their own employees supporting political parties on state-funded time, essentially. However, how does this apply to students? That's ridiculous. Students live on-campus...are you going to tell them they can't participate in political discussion or events at their place of residence? That's ridiculous and preposterously against the first amendment.

[Twilight Kingdom]

Tinker v Des Moines Ind. County School District (1968)

"The 'unmistakable holding of this Court for almost 50 years' that 'students' and 'teachers' take with them into the 'schoolhouse gate' constitutional rights to 'freedom of speech or expression'."

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/tinker.html

If these rights extend to the high school classroom, they surely should extend to the college campus.

The bottom line here is that for so long we have been telling our students to keep quiet, respect authority and go along to get along that it has manifest into the complacent masses that we have today. Just look where that has gotten us.

Encourage them to rally, encourage them to protest, encourage them to invest in the political process.

[SailFree]

No one is censoring what they can say--it's just that they can't use schools as a forum to express themselves. Please be serious. We do not have unfettered right to say anything we like any place we like. That's NEVER been upheld by any court anywhere.

The reason the left favors it is they know that most teachers and professors lean left and students are generally gullible, easily swayed to what sounds warm-hearted.

[Twilight Kingdom]

If you actually knew the details of the case you wouldn't be so cynical about its application.

The ruling permits demonstrations and speech that does not disrupt the educational process. That is about the only restriction that the Justices recognized. Furthermore, the case specifically applies to K-12 educational setting and requires that school officials need to accommodate students and teachers who wish to excersize their rights in a manner consistent with the limitation above. To think that there should be a more strict application at the collegiate level is ludicrous. Additionally, the fact that the University receives state funding makes the move to limit the right to peaceful assembly even more obscene. It is a clear violation of both the students and faculty's First Amendment rights.

As to your conspiracy that the left is out to brainwash students by stacking the ranks of professors with Liberal operatives is a joke. Perhaps the more people learn the more they realize that the Right has it all wrong. Don't believe me? Even Rove knows it!

"As people do better, they start voting like Republicans — unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing."

—Karl Rove quoted in The Daily Texan, 19 March 2004

[rjmiller]

The school clearly doesn't have a right to stop the students, that much is obvious.

[SailFree]

I meant Obama's policies, virtually identical to Schwarzenegger's..

Sorry.

[SailFree]

Clearly allowing government employees (why not soldiers?) to engage in politics is a ploy to increase the power of government. It's a left-wing tactic. Those for big government should oppose.

Speaking of big government and the left wing tactics, one notes that increasing taxes DID NOT WORK to save the economy of California under pseudo-Republican Arnold S.

He's now admitting that the state is near collapse and "may require an emergency loan." An emergency loan from WHOM? The USA? If we put in Obama and his policies, virtually identical to Obama's, works its satanic magic on the economy of the USA, who will be there to bail the whole country out?

I'd like a serious answer. I know that's not usually permitted here, but give it a try.

[Zofomofo]

Cali takes out lons every year. This is nothing new except that the credit market is hosed, so he is asking the Feds.

Look at the record, Republicans spend more money and give more power to government, they just lie about it.

[Zofomofo]

I meant LOAN not lon,
Anyway, so Obama is a Satanist now? and you want to be permitted serious answers?
Are you on glue?

[zedthewizard]

not sure yet. we don't have an absolute right. i think gwen ifill should have recused herself after the debate, but not before. too easy. sometimes the appearance of impropriety should direct us. the school has a point, whether or not you are blinded by your own righteousness.