Students, Faculty Encourage More Activism

The Royster Society of Fellows, an interdisciplinary fellowship program for graduate students, held a forum Wednesday titled, "Can you Say that on Campus? Perspectives on the Limits of Free Speech at UNC-Chapel Hill."

Organizers intended to discuss how students and faculty are exercising their rights to free speech, noting the teach-ins that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.

Graduate student David Pizzo, who attended the forum, taught at one of several teach-ins scheduled after Sept. 11 to address issues related to the attacks and subsequent military action.

The teach-ins elicited concern from many who labeled them unpatriotic, prompting hundreds of angry e-mails sent to campus administrators. Anthropology Professor Catherine Lutz, who spoke at one of the teach-ins, said at Wednesday's forum that she even received a death threat after the event.

Pizzo said that overall, the teach-ins enabled students, faculty and the community to come together and react in the wake of Sept. 11 and that he thought they were a good example of how the campus allows speech regardless of its content.

But now, more than six months after the attacks, many believe interest in actively speaking out has tapered off, especially in students. "It's hard to sustain interest," Pizzo said. "People are confused, and they lost interest or they're afraid to address these issues."

Student Body President Jen Daum said that while she agrees activism has waned on campus, she thinks it is probably because of other issues facing students, such as academic responsibilities.

But she said that in general, the campus is a place that supports free speech. "I think we have a very open climate for a diversity of opinions," she said.

Organizers of the teach-ins and student activists now face the task of encouraging student involvement in new capacities.

Pizzo said professors also could do more to foster student interest in current issues. "Professors are afraid to put their necks out there or afraid of saying something wrong," he said.

Philosophy Professor Gerald Postema was one of the panelists at the forum on free speech. He discussed the distinction between an individual's right to freedom of speech and the academic freedom professors have to present all sides of an issue.

"I'm not sure academic freedom is alive and well because I don't think the faculty is doing its duty," he said at the forum. In a later interview, he said faculty should be encouraged to practice academic freedom "concerned with free, no-holds-barred teaching and discussion."

Graduate student Michal Osterweil said students are continuing to exercise their free speech through protests and community dialogues, such as one that will be held this weekend to address violence in the Middle East.

She said that after the negative response to the teach-ins, she believed free speech on campus was stifled. "At the time, it was really, really tense. People didn't feel safe to say (their opinions)."

But Osterweil said she and other students will continue to try to create a space for the sharing of opinions and discussion on any issues that might arise. "Freedom of speech is so crucial in the sense of people feeling the need to be heard."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.