What is a university’s role and responsibility concerning free speech for those in its community? Professors of Law’s Scott Gaylord and Tom Molony, two members of HPU Law’s inaugural faculty, thoughtfully consider this question in a recent article in Carolina Journal.
In the article titled “Reestablishing universities as guardians of free speech,” Professors Gaylord and Molony conclude that universities must return to their position as a marketplace of ideas. They highlight the recent adoption of American Bar Association Standard 208, which requires all law schools to adopt policies protecting the rights of faculty, students, and staff “to communicate ideas that may be controversial or unpopular.” The professors argue, however, that law schools should take at least two more steps to promote and protect speech; they should “(1) reconsider policies that undermine free speech and (2) enforce permissible restrictions on expression that threaten operations or student safety.”
Regarding their first point, they recommend that schools minimize any form of compelled statements and that they remain “institutionally neutral on social, political, religious, and moral issues.” The professors support the position taken by the University of Chicago’s Kalven Committee Report, which stressed that a properly oriented university is a “home and sponsor of critics . . . not itself the critic.”
Concerning their second point, they contend that schools should guard free speech by (1) prohibiting constitutionally unprotected speech; (2) enforcing reasonable “time, place, and manner restrictions”; and (3) disallowing a “heckler’s veto,” which shouts down speakers instead of promoting fruitful debate. They encourage schools as they craft such policies to remember United States v. Alvarez, where the Supreme Court explained that “[f]reedom of speech and thought flows not from the beneficence of the state but from the inalienable rights of the person.”
In these challenging times in higher education, the professors applaud High Point Law as an institution poised to lead the charge to protect and promote free speech by teaching students to reflect on controversial issues through reasoned argument and debate. They write:
“As part of the inaugural faculty at HPU law school, we are building a program rooted in freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression to train lawyers who are equipped to represent their clients effectively—and to lead—in an increasingly polarized world.”
When asked about his colleagues’ article, Founding Dean and Professor of Law Mark Martin commented:
Professors Gaylord and Molony epitomize our exceptional faculty at High Point Law. By prudently engaging in this pressing public conversation about free expression, they reflect how seriously we take our mission here in the law school. We will create an environment where students not only engage thoughtfully and respectfully on difficult issues; they will also graduate as lawyer-leaders who seek to promote such civil discourse in their communities and beyond.