Miami of Ohio Needs a Free Speech Class

There are incidents of student vandalism and administrative overreach at colleges across the

country, but Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio takes the cake on both. You may remember

this past April when Miami made headlines after pro-choice vandals destroyed the pro-life

group’s Cemetery of the Innocents display twice. Before the display was even approved and set

up on campus, Miami (evidently forgetting it is a public school) figured they would try to force

the group to post trigger warnings around the display site. In fact, search Miami on our site and

you’ll learn everything you need to about the struggles that UM Respect Life has faced. The

entire situation there is a hot mess… and we couldn’t help but notice that Miami’s upcoming

addition of a Free Speech class would benefit their administrators just as much as their

students.

(PICTURE OF CLASS SCHEDULE THING)

Officials from the university, following these events, talked themselves blue in the face about

how Miami “[has] always been a space for open dialogue and free exchange of ideas.” Of course,

we should specify: statements like this only started flowing out after the pro-abortion display

was vandalized. The group College Students for Reproductive Justice erected a display of coat

hangers on sticks on one of the campus lawns, complete with pro-abortion slogans like “Our

body, our lives, our choice” next to a gay rights flag, for whatever reason.

Since the entire thing is so ridiculous, we try to find the humor (even if it’s a “face-palm” kind of

humor). The Journal-News reported below:

(picture)
The author had to see the irony in juxtaposing those two paragraphs…right? Miami says they

value the free exchange of ideas, unless they’re pro-life, in which case they’ll try to force them to

do something they don’t force other groups to. Sounds about right. We sincerely hope this new

free speech class is a true representation of what that term really means – free speech for all

ideas, not just ones that college officials like. Students for Life Wilberforce Fellow Ellen

Wittman has witnessed the school’s roller coaster of a battle and is hopeful the new class will

inspire a healthier campus environment.

(VIDEO OF ELLIE)