University of Massachusetts at Amherst: Student Group Charged Unconstitutional Security Fee for Controversial Speaker
At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst the Republican Club was pressured into paying an additional $444.52 for extra security at their event featuring columnist Don Feder. After hearing that a large group of students had invited people to protest the speech of Feder, the UMass Police department forced the club to pay extra money. The club agreed, but the organized hecklers nevertheless disrupted the speech. Under pressure from FIRE UMass publicly relented in a letter to The Boston Globe. The letter announced that UMass would return the excess fee, but it deceptively claimed that UMass had only charged more money because of greater anticipated attendance at Feder's lecture.
- "Victory for First Amendment Rights at UMass Amherst: Administration Rejects Censorship of Newspaper," April 23, 2009: Under pressure from FIRE, University of Massachusetts Amherst has rejected the student government's official censorship of The Minuteman, a conservative campus newspaper that mocked a student government official. In addition, FIRE has learned that UMass Amherst has held accountable at least one of the people who stole copies of The Minuteman out of the hands of a student while a campus police officer watched and did nothing.
- "Free speech silenced," Boston Herald, April 16, 2009
- "Letter from UMass to 'The Boston Globe': "No real controversy in UMass event"," The Boston Globe, April 13, 2009
- "Letter to FIRE from UMass Associate Counsel Brian W. Burke," April 9, 2009
- "FIRE Letter to University of Massachusetts Chancellor Robert C. Holub," March 24, 2009
Case Materials
- "Victory for First Amendment Rights at UMass Amherst: Administration Rejects Censorship of Newspaper," by Adam Kissel, April 23, 2009
- "FIRE Vice President Pens Op-Ed for ‘The Boston Globe’: ‘Why no one should be silenced on campus’," by Luke Sheahan, April 9, 2009: Today's Boston Globe features an op-ed from FIRE Vice President Robert Shibley on the disruption of Don Feder's speech at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. This incident is indicative of a larger problem on college campuses, where students have begun to resort to disruption and violence to preempt speech with which they disagree. All too often, university policies actually make this "heckler's veto" possible, denying students the opportunity to hear speakers with diverse views. As Robert's column persuasively points out, the real casualty of the heckling 'arms race' fostered by such policies is the possibility of getting a truly liberal education.
- "Four FIRE Cases on Security Fees Top Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle," by Adam Kissel, March 31, 2009
Blog Entries
- "Between the Lines: Intolerant of Dissent,"
by Cathy Young, The Valley Advocate, May 21, 2009 - "Before you know it, your speech could be offensive,"
by Cathy Young, RealClearPolitics, April 22, 2009 - "UMass-Amherst abandons free-speech rights,"
by Pete Chagnon, OneNewsNow.com, April 21, 2009 - "Why no one should be silenced on campus,"
by Robert Shibley, The Boston Globe, April 9, 2009