The second event of the Freedom of Expression Series continued battling the nuances of campus discourse and the First Amendment on Monday at noon in the Knight Law Center.
This event was titled “Freedom of Speech and Expression Across the ‘Rural-Urban’ Divide,” and featured a panel of six University of Oregon alumni or students.
The group explored topics such as free speech on social media, trigger warnings in classes, the anti-abortion group that came to campus in October, the white nationalists who came to campus in April and the student collective’s protest of UO President Michael Schill’s State of the College address. The hour-long panel also took questions and comments from the audience of about 15 people.
Attendee Julia Mueller said she doesn’t think the small turn out reflected the relevance of this topic.
“Everyone has a stance, everyone has an opinion, so I think this is a really important thing to be discussing,” Mueller said.
Although this is her first event of the series, Mueller said she thinks these events are needed to help continue the complex conversations people are having about who should and shouldn’t be allowed to come to campus.
The next event in the series, “Global Perspectives on Freedom of Speech and Expression,” will take place March 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the Knight Law Center.
Todd Milbourn and Lisa Heyamoto kicked off the series last Friday with the “Your Campus, Your Voice: Student Roundtable.” That event will happen again March 9 at noon at the Many Nations Longhouse near Global Scholars Hall.