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The First Amendment Rights on College Campus

Anaiya Cromartie

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Abstract
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Many are told that College is a place where a person discovers who they are and want out

of life. This is contradicting the fact that many Universities over the years have silenced the

voice of the young adolescents that attend their establishment. Students suppress their ideologies

because of the lack of education on their rights. College Students have been told all their lives

what they can not do. The foundation must be established for the young adolescents in order for

them to grow into well educated citizens and that includes laying the groundwork of teachings

outside of the classroom. This paper is needed to make sure students and the public know what

rights they possess as a U.S. citizen. The purpose of the paper will educate the reader on what

rights the public has concerning their first amendment rights.

The First amendment was included in the Bill of Rights and sent to the states for

ratification in the year of 1789 and later adopted on the date of December 15, 1791. The amount
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of times this law has been violated since that date has skyrocketed and in continuance of being

ignored. Many people fail to educate themselves on the natural rights given to them under the

leadership of the United States of America. College students especially are unaware of the rights

they have while attending their University. Students around the country will need to educate

themselves on their freedoms of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly.

In college, students develop ideas on occuring issues within their campus. Those issues

may range from frustration with housing, financial aid, dining, and incidents that happen with

their peers. “The First Amendment to the Constitution protects speech no matter how offensive

its content. Restrictions on speech by public colleges and universities amount to government

censorship, in violation of the Constitution”, (ACLU, 2020). Students who attend North Carolina

Agricultural and Technical State University had an opportunity to exercise this freedom and

received some backlash for voicing opinions.

The newest form of communication students turn to is a social website called Twitter.

The social media platforms connects many people from all over the world; hence, why students

turn to this way of voicing opinions when administrators don’t listen to their scholars. A girl had

voiced her opinion on an incident that happened with a fellow peer and how the administrators

ignored her concern for safety. The post went viral enough to get the attention of others. She

received support and backlash concerning the controversial tweet. It was at that point the school

had taken the action to fix what was said and ensured safety matters to keep a control of what

happens on campus and how students voice their speech.

The range of freedom of speech rights expand to even when speakers are invited to

campuses. Donald Trump was allowed to use facilities that East Carolina University offered out

to rent. Donald Trump attended the rally he set up, “Keep America Great” and worked on his
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campaign. The University put out a statement in regards to his appearance reassuring students

they did not invite the conservisal speaker to the campus. The students responded in different

ways to the news of the guest appearance. Some students were enraged and took to Twitter as

well as protesting to voice their dislikes about the President and the affiliation he had to be

welcomed on campus. On the contrary, many students formed a group and advertised their

appreciation of the speaker coming to their campus and wanted to exercise their right of freedom

of speech and did just that through organizations. The first amendment does not discriminate

against the speaker’s speech based on their viewpoint. The president had a right to speak at the

campus even though he is a controversial public figure.

University life is where many scholars are tested on their moral rights that may have been

introduced to in their home or upbringing and they are free to express their practice of religion

on the college campus. Students become involved with social groups on campus and this can

include religious groups. “students should be free to pray voluntarily, but schools must refrain

from creating an environment that coerces students into any particular religion”, (Reuters,

2020.). Students are able to create groups they feel they need on campus surrounding religion;

however, the public university can not affiliate what religion they associate with that will cause

an environment to force students to join the organization. The North Carolina Public law makes

it clear that the first amendment concerning freedom of religion may be practiced in a way that

doesn’t persuade students to become part of a certain organization.

The freedom to assemble is a law the college students use to their advantage. In the year

of 1969, in the city of Greensboro we see how North Carolina A&T students utilize this freedom

they have been given. The 1969 Riot was a time where students learned they were able to protest

and try to get their voices heard about the unfair treatment in the surrounding area. The students
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were protesting against administrators at Dudley High School in defense of the unfair election

due to a racist agenda. Students protested on the campus of North Carolina Agricultural and

Technical State University.

The student’s first amendment was violated on the campus that day. The time of racial

tensions was high between the city and black students. The scholars organized a protest to get

administrations attention about the injustices that were taking place at the time and city officials

stepped in to control the crowd. Students were arrested that day based on them protesting and

knowing their rights against the power that was restraining them. Bullets were shot through

dorms and the protest took a turn for the worst and resulted in a lethal death to Willie James.

“Public universities are government entities that are bound by the Constitution, so students on

public campuses have free speech rights protected by the First Amendment”, (FIRE). Students

have the right to protest their thoughts and ideas without having to worry about interference of

administration as long as the protest does not turn violent. The university shut down the protest

because of the bad reputation of how uncivilized the NC A&T students acted.

The freedom of speech plays a role when protesting because the citizens want their voices

comprehended. The students who stood out there against the authority of administration should

not feel like they can not voice their opinions in fear of government forces being involved. The

students demonstrated a peaceful protest that only turned bad because of the violation of their

freedom of assembly. The environment on the campus has changed since 1969 and

administrators are more willing to listen to what students have to say and allows the protesting of

students to go on as long as it does not violate the terms of the first amendment.

The times have changed and students are becoming more vocal about issues that affect

them on and off campuses. Students who attend the University of Texas had started a protest
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based on the issues surrounding gun violence. Texas had passed a law that allowed gun carry and

weapons on campus, but had banned obscene items from being carried into classrooms, dorms,

and many public places on campus. The students had set up a table on the first day of classes and

passed out dildos, shirts, and wristbands. The idea of passing out dildos was a way for students to

get involved in a political process at their age and engage in something that will show the

legislators that they do not agree with the law making decisions they have set. Three different

professors took the protest as an offensive environment and took it upon themselves to make a

request to a federal judge to remove the absurd protesting from the campus. The judge

inevitability denied the request as it would be considered a violation to their first amendment

right which is a freedom of peaceful assembly and petition. “Even if the “redress” dimension of

the petition clause merely expresses the hope of government response, the very act of channeling

popular opinion for public officials serves important societal goals. It creates an information flow

from the public to the government, and serves as a safety valve for public passions”, (Newton,

2020.). Students use petitions and protesting as a way to becoming politically involved to enable

the government or the high power, in the case of college campuses, to become aware of the

decisions they have made and how it affects them or the people surrounding those students. The

students are within their rights to voice concerns and will be allowed to do so as long as there is

no violence involved, hate speeches being made, or an environment or intimidation is being

produced. They are within their legal rights to do so.

The university administrators are held responsible for violating students first amendment

rights and that trickles all the way down to even the small microaggressions committed with

students. The student athletes experience violation of the freedom of speech when it comes to

their personal lives and representing the school and trying to create the polished and ideal look
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for the reputation of the school. Many do not report instances of coaches controlling what their

athletes post on their social media. This is beyond a violation of their first amendment of saying

what they would like on their social sites. The coaches micromanage the stuff the athletes are

allowed to post in hopes it keeps funding coming into the school and supporters donating to the

funding of the sports team.

The school officials don’t stop at just the obvious violations of freedom of speech.

The schools should be held responsible to when it comes to allowing the students to write articles

and vocalizing their thoughts. Students get in trouble for writing articles that have to do with

intimacy relations such as the incident that happened at North Carolina A&T. Student writers

had wrote an article about the intimacy of sexual relations during the month of Febvruary and

received backlash for doing so. The students were scolded for writing about the obscene

information. This should have a violation of the first amendment as the text was not in any way

shape or form. The school believed it promoted the image of sex positive message. The article

was something that only explained the act and not provoked a message of promotion. “Freedom

of speech leads to freedom of thought, but all too often universities are teaching students what to

think instead of how to think. This bill affirms the ability to engage in the free exchange of ideas

without the fear of intimidation or disruption,” (Wolf, 2019). Students should be able to think for

themselves with the fear of being stopped by administrators due violating their first amendment

rights. The State of Wisconsin believed this was an issue that needed to have attention brought

on it and passed a bill that would prevent something like the situation that happened at North

Carolina A&T concerning the article being posted.

Many students have been a victim of having their first amendment violated by school

administrators. The students have rights that should be honored through the law as long as they
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do not abuse those laws. Students should be able to say what they want in verbal forms as well as

written forms of communication that doesn’t include hate speeches. The scholars should also be

able to write up petitions without fear of being punished by their universities. The right to protest

against their school officials should not be in question as long they are doing so in a way that

does not create an environment of intimidation and cause violence to stir on the campus.

Cited Works

“Speech on Campus.” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/other/speech-

campus.

“North Carolina Prayer in Public Schools Laws.” Findlaw, 21 June 2016,

statelaws.findlaw.com/north-carolina-law/north-carolina-prayer-in-public-schools-

laws.htm
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“Freedom of Petition Overview.” Freedom Forum Institute,

www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-

petition/freedom-of-petition-overview/.

“States Passing Laws to Protect College Students' Free Speech.” States Passing Laws to

Protect College Students' Free Speech, www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/09/16/states-

passing-laws-protect-college-students-free-speech.

“FIRE's FAQ for Student Protests on Campus.” FIRE, www.thefire.org/get-

involved/student-network/defend-protect-your-rights/fires-faq-for-student-protests-on-

campus/.