OK. I understand a university’s need to curb “disruptive behavior.” So I suppose it’s acceptable to tell someone using a bullhorn near classrooms that he should stop doing so.

But it’s outrageous and downright asinine to come back later and tell that same person he not only can’t stand on a taxpayer-funded sidewalk at a taxpayer-funded institution of higher education and talk to fellow students but has to get a permit to talk in a “free-speech zone.”

That’s how I feel after reading this report from the Student Press Law Center about an incident at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta.

If the report is accurate, the administration acted ham-handedly and with censorship in mind.

I’ll be investigating further in hopes there’s more to this than meets the eye.

My opinions are my own until I tell you otherwise.

– Sonny Albarado, free speech advocate.

Tags: First Amendment, free speech, free speech zone, Georgia Perimeter College, Student Press Law Center

This entry was posted by Sonny Albarado, 2012-13 SPJ President on Tuesday, November 20th, 2012 at 5:21 pm and is filed under First Amendment, SPJ Missions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.