Honoring First Amendment rights while nurturing an inclusive environment on college campuses

Photo Credit: Upsplash contributor Melany Rochester

In an interview with John D. Inazu in 2018 for an issue of About Campus, Frank Shushok asked the question “How well are we balancing the tension between First Amendment rights and nurturing inclusive environments?”

Inazu’s response touched on administrators having a relationship with students that is strong enough to prompt reflection and have them think through the impacts their decisions will have on the community.

Inazu also emphasized the idea of bringing quality speakers to campus. His criteria for quality is someone who is not there to agitate, but to offer insight. In relation to quality speakers, Inazu encourages that student groups with opposing ideas to host speaker events together. The result of these events -- bringing students together in the same room who would otherwise not be. These types of events would also encourage a safe place to discuss ideas.

With this being said, communication is key. College campuses have a unique environment. Students come from all over and were raised in families and in areas with varying worldviews. College campuses, however, lack the spaces where people of opposing views and people with various different identities can talk openly about their questions, feelings and views without feeling like they will be disregarded or deemed ignorant. Open conversations when facilitated properly, has the power to change the state of America one college campus at a time and one community at a time.

On college campuses like Virginia Tech, principles of community are established, which begs the question: where is the line between the First Amendment and the principles of community? This is a question prevalent in higher education as the nation becomes more and more diverse. In the book The Next America, the U.S. Census Bureau projections that by 2044 the majority of America will be nonwhite is discussed. That projection plays a significant role in higher education, but also demands that institutions step up and keep up with a changing America.