Idea for policy prompted by Charlottesville
Brandon Bell
News Editor
Yesterday Campus Council considered forming a task force to consider a new free speech policy at the College.
The task force will decide on what items to include in the policy, which would have to be approved by the Council.
According to Jordan Griffith ’19, the Council’s chair, the formation of the Freedom of Speech and Inquiry Task Force has been discussed since last summer, particularly after an alt-right rally on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Va. resulted in violent confrontations with counterprotesters.
“We hope to discover what policies need to be updated or created to ensure that a diverse range of viewpoints are heard and that we are prepared in the event of protest or controversy,” Griffith said.
The task force, which as of press time had not been officially approved by the Council, is intended to be composed of members from multiple campus community groups — including students, administration, staff and faculty.
“We’re looking to capture a wide array of ideologies to make sure we take all arguments in consideration,” Griffith said.
While the task force has yet to meet to decide on its specific goals, Griffith said that it does want to “create principles, policies and processes that reflect Wooster’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and intellectual growth.”
Marina Adams ’18, vice-chair of Campus Council, said that the task force would be looking at instances where speech ran counter to these commitments, even if it remained unsure about whether to address hate speech specifically in its recommendations.
“We will be looking into speech that perpetuates ideas detrimental to the development and success of students on campus. Hate speech would definitely qualify in that category,” Adams said. “However, until the Task Force actually meets, discusses the issues and identifies the policies that need creating or modifying, I cannot [say] if demarcating hate speech in policy will be a specific goal.”
Adams acknowledged that free speech policies could be controversial on college campuses, but she said that she hoped discussions at Wooster on the policy could remain calm and focused.
“While [free speech policies are] a prevalent and controversial issue at the moment, there are no specific controversies on the issue at Wooster directly influencing the conversation,” Adams said. “We are hoping that this will allow for more productive and less inflammatory discussions.”
If approved at Thursday’s meeting, the task force is expected to begin its work next week. It wants to present its recommendations to the Board of Trustees in March and ultimately hopes to have a new policy voted on by Campus Council at the end of this school year.
The College of Wooster policies that currently relate to the issue of free speech include the Civility Statement, which states that the College community “pledge[s] to stand united against hate by creating and contributing to safe learning environments in our community.”
Also relevant to free speech is the College’s statement on Equal Opportunity, Harassment and Non-Discrimination, in which the College reserves the right to issue consequences to employees or other community members that promote “discriminatory or harassing speech,” whether such speech occurs on or off campus.