SC

South Carolina Students Sue After Being Interrogated Over Free Speech Event

MORE PC NONSENSE ON AMERICA’S COLLEGE CAMPUSES We’ve written extensively in recent months about higher ed’s deplorable descent into politically-correct madness.  Sadly, this taxpayer-subsidized trend is alive and well even at our founding editor’s alma mater, the University of South Carolina (USC). The latest example? A crackdown on USC’s chapters of…

MORE PC NONSENSE ON AMERICA’S COLLEGE CAMPUSES

We’ve written extensively in recent months about higher ed’s deplorable descent into politically-correct madness.  Sadly, this taxpayer-subsidized trend is alive and well even at our founding editor’s alma mater, the University of South Carolina (USC).

The latest example?

A crackdown on USC’s chapters of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) and College Libertarians – two groups which had the audacity to organize an event promoting free speech on campus last fall.

Apparently this “free speech zone” violated the “safe space” of some of their fellow students, who reported flyers promoting the event to school authorities – claiming they were “offensive” and “triggering.”

Jeez ….

In response, USC officials served student Ross Abbott with a “notice of charge” letter and initiated a discrimination investigation against him – going so far as to threaten him with expulsion.  Oh, and this over-the-top crackdown came despite the school’s director of campus life actually pre-clearing the content of the free speech event beforehand.

The South Carolina case has drawn the attention of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) – a Philadelphia-based advocacy group that exists to promote “individual rights, freedom of expression, academic freedom, due process, and freedom of conscience at our nation’s colleges and universities.”

“The University of South Carolina is so intolerant of free speech that students can’t even talk about free speech,” said Catherine Sevcenko, the group’s director of litigation. “Ironically, the university’s current marketing campaign features the slogan ‘No Limits.’ But as Ross and his fellow students learned, that does not extend to their free speech rights.”

Yeah … if only they met the uber-liberal higher educrat who came up with that little branding campaign for USC.

Anyway, Abbott and his organizations will be represented by FIRE in a lawsuit against the school.

“I held an educational event for students to learn about their free speech rights,” he said.  “Apparently it was my school’s administrators that needed the lesson.”

Let’s hope they get it …

“Even if University of South Carolina students play by the unconstitutional rules and seek permission to exercise their rights, they still risk punishment,” said Sevcenko. “No one should have to explain their speech to a government bureaucrat under threat of punishment, especially on a college campus, but that is exactly what USC made Ross do.”

We agree.

In addition to challenging USC’s First Amendment suppression of Abbott and other students, the lawsuit also seeks to strike down the school’s so-called “Student Non-Discrimination and Non-Harassment Policy,” which explicitly bans “unwelcome” speech and “suggestive or insulting gestures or sounds.”

***

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75 comments

Flip February 23, 2016 at 6:51 pm

It’s OK, your solution of making USC a private college would fix this right? But seriously what were the offensive, triggering things? If it was outright hate speech then that is a problem.

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pogo February 23, 2016 at 6:59 pm

Everything about YOU,liberals,socialists and communists is hate speech? State controlled universities have been infiltrated and infected by American hating tenured professor pussies that think like you as you try and destroy this country.

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Flip February 23, 2016 at 7:39 pm

You are the one calling people faggots. Remember when you called Rocky a spic? Disgusting troll. Please seek Jesus before it is too late.

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pogo February 23, 2016 at 8:03 pm

Not me.Will you are going have to hire someone else to follow pogo around? This guy is a clown.Wait until he gets drunk about 2:00 A.M. …

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Flip February 23, 2016 at 8:21 pm

No need to dig up your previous comments because you’ll undoubtedly use racist slurs within the next week or two to prove my point yet again.

pogo February 24, 2016 at 8:00 am

Only point you have proven since you started stalking me was that Fits wasted his money? ha ha ha

Flip February 24, 2016 at 8:27 am

Not stalking you, you are the one stalking me. I’m the original flip. I support abortion and the Democratic party!

smithaw February 24, 2016 at 9:41 am

Oh, pogo, I think you’ve been jumping on your stick waay too much. Your brain has been rattled around in your brainbox a teeny bit so that it has bruised your amydala. Perhaps a qualified neurologist might be able to help you if the condition is physical in genesis; otherwise I’d suggest a good psychologist.

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pogo February 24, 2016 at 11:09 am

Nice looking dog.What happened to you? Why are Democrat women always so ugly? You even have an ugly personality to go with it.

Inquiring minds want to know?

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smithaw February 24, 2016 at 12:18 pm

Oh, dear pogo, is that the best you can do? Mediocrity always tells.

shifty henry February 24, 2016 at 11:58 pm

Are you really the reincarnation of former lead commentator here known as “SubZeroIQ” ? —- I’ve missed you!

smithaw February 25, 2016 at 12:22 am

Alas, no. I’m not acquainted with a “subzeroIQ” and doubt if we’d have much in common.

shifty henry February 25, 2016 at 12:49 am

Both of your avatars show the same hair style…

Romney Wordsworth February 25, 2016 at 4:32 am

“Oh, pogo, I think you’ve been jumping on your stick waay too much.”

I suggest you consider rewording that statement.

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Tazmaniac February 24, 2016 at 8:33 am

I up vote for your input, but I disagree. I have no problem with hate speech. It is a teaching tool when you are trying explain ignorant dumbassery to your kids. SPECIFIC inciting of riots/violence is another story.

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Flip February 24, 2016 at 10:46 am

I can respect that.

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headylamarr February 24, 2016 at 8:36 am

There is no hate speech exception in the First Amendment.

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Flip February 24, 2016 at 10:52 am

I would be interested to see if there is any legal precedence for the constitutionality of public colleges limiting speech deemed as offensive. In a classroom even at a public school the school has every right to limit your speech, the classroom is a place dedicated to learning so if you disrupt that purpose by talking about random nonsense, not even hate speech, then they are allowed to remove you. Not sure if that logic applies to just an open area on college grounds or not.

You are right that the First Amendment does not stop hate speech but even when the KKK came to protest here they had to get a permit to do so. I am not sure if YAL obtained a permit, or if they could actually obtain one for university property. Reason I say that is because the abortion protester that sometimes protests by Midlands Tech does so on the sidewalk outside the school and not in a public place on the school’s property.

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Vineyard February 23, 2016 at 6:57 pm

And that is why my high school senior kid – just accepted into USC Honors recently – will head upstate to become a Tiger. Sure, they’ve got their stupid people up there too… just less of them.

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HD February 23, 2016 at 7:26 pm

Make sure he knows to use “fewer” rather than “less.”

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shifty henry February 23, 2016 at 8:09 pm

10+

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pogo February 23, 2016 at 8:14 pm

Hey shifty you were the only one that didn’t appear rattled or concerned about the cyber attack.You didn’t even post.Glad you’re well.

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shifty henry February 23, 2016 at 8:20 pm

I could not get through to Fitsnews because Norton kept giving me the attack notice from (wait for more here — this skipping around is still going on — I’ll add more to this in a few minutes/ I have to save and then edit)

shifty henry February 23, 2016 at 8:25 pm

Shit! It jumped while I was adding info and didn’t save it. I didn’t know what was happening. I added Mozilla Firefox and got through, and I can now get through on Internet Explorer.

shifty henry February 23, 2016 at 8:27 pm

I’m not too informed about the sophisticated side of the internet and programs, etc. But I’m learning quickly. I’m trying to figure out how to get ublock and adblock plus downloaded tonight but have no luck. Will try tomorrow and ask you guys for help if I can’t get them.

tomstickler February 24, 2016 at 11:04 am

AdBlock works well in Chrome browser for me.

a face in the crowd February 23, 2016 at 9:45 pm

Do some research on FIRE and you will see plenty of letters sent by their organization to Clemson.

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Squishy123 February 23, 2016 at 10:41 pm

I believe the requirements for USC Honors is checking that you’ll live on campus in the dorms.

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The Colonel (R) February 23, 2016 at 10:48 pm

Yeah, about that – USC has been a top ranked Honors College for the last 5 years… http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2013/10/05/now-well-be-tracking-75-honors-programs-and-here-they-are/

And if your freshman starts next year we have one of the best Freshman Experience Programs in the country: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/first-year-experience-programs

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ClemsonGrad February 24, 2016 at 5:28 pm

ugh. Those kids walk across downtown traffic just to get to class. There are NO nearby off-campus housing where girls are safe. The dorms are infested with weed, the HPV virus, hook-up sex and abortions are commonplace. NO thanks!

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The Colonel (R) February 24, 2016 at 5:37 pm

Bovine excreta. There’s a bridge or tunnel over/under every bit of “downtown traffic” and it’s Columbia we’re talking about, not I-285 in Atlanta. The main campus is exclusively foot traffic. The weed, sex and abortions are about the same as anywhere except of course Clemson cause so few girls go there. The “bois” are more worried about contacting AIDs and “Hoof and Mouth” disease.

In all seriousness, none of the “problems” you claim exist are different than any other college campus, including Moo U.

jimlewisowb February 24, 2016 at 5:41 pm

Dear ClemsonGrad

I am thinking about trying College again. You seem to know a lot about housing opportunities at USC.

I am specifically interested in the dorm you described above. Feel like it would be a perfect fit for my present and future expectations.

thanks for your time,
jimlewis, owb

smithaw February 24, 2016 at 9:31 am

“fewer” of them. Columbia College English major here.

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Halfvast Conspirator February 24, 2016 at 11:01 am

your a looser

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smithaw February 24, 2016 at 12:22 pm

“You’re a loser.” I think that’s what you meant to say. Grammar and sentence structure ARE important, you know.

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soxinsc February 24, 2016 at 4:04 pm

Understanding sarcasm is a lost art these daze.

smithaw February 24, 2016 at 4:10 pm

Really? Is that what you call it? I’d say it would be better understood if it were better done.

Soft Sigh from Hell February 24, 2016 at 7:22 pm

And irony, hyperbole, allusion, and all the rest.

Tazmaniac February 25, 2016 at 10:33 am

What if the less stupid people were all midgets?

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erneba February 23, 2016 at 7:01 pm

The current college age young person is in a generation of the biggest pussies that this country has ever spawned.

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idcydm February 23, 2016 at 7:06 pm

It’s obvious some people our age didn’t do a very good job of raising their kids.

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stumpknocker February 23, 2016 at 7:08 pm

you can only do so much as a parent, cell phones and video games, pure poison.

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idcydm February 23, 2016 at 7:41 pm

There is an antidote for the poison, it’s parental involvement and making children be responsible. They need to learn that participation trophies don’t count in the real world.

I have 15 yr old grandson that has a job at a super market. Another one in college and one that had a job waiting for him the day he graduated from college.

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oy February 24, 2016 at 10:40 am

…not to mention the propaganda coming from schools, and some places of worship….

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Scooter February 24, 2016 at 3:07 pm

Yes, both.

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pogo February 23, 2016 at 7:16 pm

Gonna get worse my friend.

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Tazmaniac February 24, 2016 at 8:59 am

They think that they worry about “triggers” now? Wait til life starts shooting at them. Must be why they take all those Degrees and work at Starbucks, it is a safe haven for them.

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Vineyard February 23, 2016 at 7:10 pm

Agreed, there is no such thing as hate speech… only self esteem deprived folks that needed to be raised better, by actual adults. So yeah, while hate speech doesn’t exist; actual violence against others caused by hate does and a mature society should deal aggressively with it.

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jimlewisowb February 23, 2016 at 7:53 pm

“Student Non-Discrimination and Non-Harassment Policy,” … explicitly bans ..“suggestive or insulting gestures or sounds.”

Damn, looks like there will no football at Williams-Brice this fall

Fuck ’em, Fuck ’em all

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shifty henry February 23, 2016 at 8:13 pm

Teach them a lesson — force them to listen to lectures by Mr. Folks, and read the articles with the related comments. Then they will understand that “Free Speech” can be, well, ….. fun ..!!

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pogo February 23, 2016 at 8:16 pm

Glad you didn’t leave.

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TontoBubbaGoldstein February 23, 2016 at 8:45 pm

Damn, looks like there will no football at Williams-Brice this fall

The same as last fall?

TBG keeds!
TBG keeds!

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idcydm February 23, 2016 at 8:49 pm

I was thinking the same thing but figured they had been embarrassed enough.

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Killiary Hinton February 23, 2016 at 9:18 pm

Someone needs to explain to these dumbasses that it’s not “free speech”, but “fee speech”.

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Bible Thumper February 24, 2016 at 12:23 am

3% of the votes are in and the AP is calling Nevada for Trump.

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pogo February 24, 2016 at 7:57 am

It was close.Trump only got 46% of the vote. :)

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opengovernmentup February 24, 2016 at 1:29 am

Aren’t colleges where we want young people to learn new ideas, expand and examine old ideas?

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Beartrkkr February 25, 2016 at 1:08 am

Only if the “new ideas” fit the proper politically correct mindset of the day. In other words, white man bad.

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Bible Thumper February 24, 2016 at 8:23 am

Trump may be our next president. In Nevada, a State that voted for Obama twice and barely reelected Bush, –Trump, Rubio and Cruz individually got more votes than the combined votes of Clinton and Sanders. 74,000 people voted in the Republican caucus. Only 12,000 voted in the Democratic caucus.

738,000 voted in the SC Republican primary. Probably less than half that will vote in the SC Democratic primary. Iowa and New Hampshire also had much higher Republican participation. There is no enthusiasm for Clinton.

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pogo February 24, 2016 at 10:41 am

Posts like this is why I never give up on you. :)

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Bible Thumper February 24, 2016 at 10:44 am

Doesn’t mean that I’ll vote for Trump.

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Flip February 24, 2016 at 10:52 am

Most of us won’t!

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pogo February 24, 2016 at 11:13 am

I have faith in you that when it comes time to vote you will do what is right for America.Not voting for Trump is a vote for communists,perverts,ISIS and killing the unborn.

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mamatiger92 February 24, 2016 at 3:51 pm

Dude. You know Trump is pro-choice, right?

tomstickler February 24, 2016 at 11:14 am

I suspect that many voted in the Republican primary that will never vote for Trump in the general election, whether he ends up on the Republican ticket or as a third-party/independent. This sort of electoral jiggery-pokery (thanks, Scalia) is a tradition in South Carolina. Sometimes, as with Haley in 2010, it backfires.

BTW, in the middle of this reply, FITSNews jumped to another thread. However, if you can hit the back arrow on your browser, and still remember to whom you were replying, then hit “reply” again — voila! — there is the reply you were working on when it jumped away.

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pogo February 24, 2016 at 11:25 am

‘I suspect that many voted in the Republican primary that will never vote for Trump in the general election’..????

What a brainless comment and why nobody takes you seriously.

I guess one could ‘suspect’ that Sanders voters won’t show up for Hillary? That is highly MORE likely after the Democrat Party rigged the system with the ‘super’ delegates against Sanders.These kids ain’t gonna show up for that lying,brain injured criminal named Hillary.

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mamatiger92 February 24, 2016 at 1:02 pm

“These kids ain’t gonna show up for that lying,brain injured criminal named Hillary.”
Don’t kid yourself. If Trump is the nominee, they will come out in droves.

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pogo February 24, 2016 at 11:21 am

Trump has brilliantly crafted win after win. The irony is that he substantially accomplished this with the very media that is so desperate to destroy him. You gotta admire that!

But now is the time to bring us all together…no more bickering from the candidates or their supporters. Our nominee is going to need all of the support possible to pull out a win this November.

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Scooter February 24, 2016 at 3:16 pm

People are fed up with the media trying to influence ever facet of their lives. Also, fed up with career pols. They abuse the system and think that the entitled. Screw them.

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Dumb Dumb USC February 24, 2016 at 8:52 am

There is a criminal statute that USC officials can be charged with. Can force arrest warrants.

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tomstickler February 24, 2016 at 11:16 am

Any chance of posting a scan of the allegedly offensive flyer? Seems germane to the discussion.

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Mom February 24, 2016 at 1:44 pm

The students involved in this are the same losers they were as children. Only now, they are living independent of mom and dad. All the while mom and dad are taking on enormous debt so their kid can have “the college experience” along with the posh apartments. PARENTS OF THESE LOSERS SHOULD BE ASHAMED!

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growthefuckup February 24, 2016 at 3:35 pm

its an adult temper tantrum

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Joan Boyce February 25, 2016 at 6:55 am

This college needs to change its policy. This country is based on free speech. Go get em FIRE

Reply

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