Should this Student Have been Expelled? Cross-Cultural Communications WTUC

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http://www.brown.edu/web/about/ http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/12/us/student-at-brown-is-expelled-under-a-rule-barring-hate-speech.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.brown.edu/Students/ACLU/IHahn.html

Vocabulary Obscene/obscenity= containing or being language regarded as taboo in polite usage, so excessive as to be offensive Faggot= a male homosexual

Report Hentoff, “…imbibed a considerable amount of spirits.” New York Times, “Douglas Hann may have thought he was just blowing off steam when he shouted abusive words at fellow students at Brown University last fall, but to others his words constituted harassment.” New York Times, “…was celebrating his 21st birthday last October when the incident occurred. Noisy Birthday Celebration”

Hate Speech used by Doug Hann Fuck you, niggers! What are you, a faggot? What are you, a Jew? Fucking Jew! My parents owned your people. To the Jewish student, “Happy Hanukkah” Hanukkah- an 8-day Jewish holiday beginning on the 25th of Kislev and commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem after its defilement by Antiochus of Syria

Vocabulary, p 393 ¶4, Bigotry= acts or beliefs characteristic of a bigot Bigot= a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices ; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

Vocabulary, p 393 ¶4, semitic= of, relating to Jews

¶10 …no physical combat Just words Awful words, but nothing more than speech Nor there were any threats

¶11 History of use of ‘disgraceful drunken language’ Fraternity bar- to a black student Advised to get counseling for alcohol abuse His punishment then was to attend a race relations workshop and counseling for possible alcohol abuse. 'Solemn Warning' Issued Obviously not rehabilitated

Brown’s actions Sentence of expulsion, ¶13 Before, students get ‘dismissed’, reapply after a period of penance ¶17, Hann became a historic figure, he is the first students to be expelled for violating one of the codes.

As reported by NYTimes Brown's rule, proposed by the president, Vartan Gregorian, shortly after his inauguration two years ago and put into effect in the fall of 1989, defines as unacceptable the subjecting of "another person, group or class of persons, to inappropriate, abusive, threatening or demeaning actions based on race, religion, gender, handicap, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation." http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/12/us/student-at-brown-is-expelled-under-a-rule-barring-hate-speech.html?pagewanted=all

As reported by NYTimes Mr. Hann, whose routes of appeal at Brown were exhausted with a Jan. 25 statement affirming his expulsion, said he may pursue a remedy based on violation of his First Amendment rights, but he declined to be specific about what his next step would be. "I think it is, of course, a case of free speech," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Pittsburgh. Challenges to Speech Codes http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/12/us/student-at-brown-is-expelled-under-a-rule-barring-hate-speech.html?pagewanted=all

As reported by NYTimes Throughout the country, university officials have adopted codes forbidding oral, written or even symbolic attacks on individuals or small groups of individuals on the basis of their sex, race, ethnic origin, color, handicap, religion or sexual preference. Such codes have come under attack, on campus and off, as infringements of free speech. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/12/us/student-at-brown-is-expelled-under-a-rule-barring-hate-speech.html?pagewanted=all

As reported by NYTimes Mr. Hann does not deny the incident but says the allegations as presented in university hearings were inexact. He declined to specify exactly what he had said, either during the incident or during his hearings. In the telephone interview, Mr. Hann said Mr. Gregorian "wanted someone," adding, "I think it was just a political statement by the university." Details Not Released http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/12/us/student-at-brown-is-expelled-under-a-rule-barring-hate-speech.html?pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes In any case, he was expelled last month, and the incident drew attention to a growing controversy on campuses about codes of behavior that guard civil rights by limiting freedom of speech. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes Some praised the action as a strong message against racism; others condemned it, saying they fear that such extreme actions, when combined with new campus codes against hate speech, will inhibit the free exchange of ideas that is the essential commerce of a university. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes Those conflicting views have already clashed. A few of the more than 100 college codes identified by the American Civil Liberties Union have been challenged in court and at least one, at the University of Michigan, was overturned on constitutional grounds. Many institutions are reviewing and sometimes amending the codes they adopted a few years ago, to make sure they are constitutional. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes The Gray Area Despite all that attention, colleges and universities still lack a clear sense of how to distinguish expression from harassment, or to balance free speech against freedom of fear. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes The problem comes up in many ways, ranging from the clearly abusive behavior to things like slogans on T-shirts, cartoons in student publications or even the hanging of a Confederate flag on a dormitory room door -- all of which may be deemed offensive. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes Many students at Brown, including Su Ming Yeh of Holmdel, N.J., said they felt that Mr. Hann got what he deserved. "Yes, there is freedom of speech," she said, "but we've also got to take into consideration the rights of others to live in a comfortable and safe environment." http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes Even some of Mr. Hann's fraternity brothers called what he did indefensible. But one, a wrestler from Long Island who refused to give his full name, said Brown students had to live under so many restrictions that great tension is created. "It's like this place is some special world where there is no such thing as racism," he said. "Doug just got drunk and exploded." http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes The university president, Vartan Gregorian, said he was upset by news reports that suggested Mr. Hann had been expelled because he violated university regulations governing speech. He said the rules proscribe behavior, not words, and the point at which speech becomes abusive or demeaning behavior is determined by an evidentiary hearing before the disciplinary council. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes A.C.L.U. Seeks Distinction On Monday the director of the Rhode Island affiliate of the A.C.L.U., in a letter to Mr. Gregorian, urged the university to change its code of conduct to clarify the distinction between behavior and speech. The director, Steven Brown, said in an interview last week that Brown's rules are "so broad and vague that they provide no guidance whatsoever in attempting to distinguish between speech and conduct." http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes A district court judge in Michigan threw out the University of Michigan's anti-harassment code in 1989 for being overly broad and vague. As an example, the court cited a case in which a student in the orientation session of a dentistry class said he had heard that minority students had a difficult time in the course and were not treated fairly. A minority professor teaching the course then filed a complaint on the ground that the comment was unfair and hurt her chances for tenure. The student underwent counseling and agreed to write a letter of apology to the professor. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes At Emory University in Atlanta, just three complaints have been filed for violations of a harassment code adopted in 1988. In one, a women's group on campus charged a fraternity with sexual harassment for wearing T-shirts showing a woman's rear end and suggestive comments. The fraternity was ordered to stop wearing the T-shirts and to extend a written apology. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where a racial brawl in 1986 injured 10 students, about 40 complaints have been filed in the two and a half years since the racial harassment code was enacted. Although he supports the codes, Mr. Ingle, the university's director of human relations, concedes their limitations, saying they could suppress bigoted remarks but not bigoted thoughts. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Battling Bias, Campuses Face Free Speech Fight, NYTimes "We have to realize that students come to the university having had drivers education and physical education but not multicultural education," Mr. Ingle said. "Many students from basically segregated communities come to college and encounter a level of diversity for which they are not properly prepared." http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/20/education/battling-bias-campuses-face-free-speech-fight.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

The Brown Daily Herald A signed editorial from The Brown Daily Herald on April 12, 1991, further emphasized this distinction between speech and action. "Doug Hann was not expelled for his opinions, or for his arguments," wrote Editor-in-Chief James Kaplan. "He was expelled from Brown for verbally abusing other students."

ACLU’s Stance the American Civil Liberties Union is called on to defend all the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Brown’s ACLU’s Stance The Brown ACLU objected to Hann's expulsion. It shared Washington Post writer Jonathan Yardley's sentiments. In the February 18, 1991 Washington Post, Yardley writes: "[T]he crusade against 'hate speech' is an integral part of the overall process by which American higher education is attempting to enforce compliance to its own political orthodoxy....Of course it's offensive-- repugnant, contemptible, loathsome, whatever you want to call it--for a college student or anyone else to go into a public place and shout words such as those used by Douglas Hann in his little scene last fall. But displays such as that are among the prices we pay for being not merely a free country but one of unexampled heterogeneity...telling [students] to keep their mouths shut is scarcely a way to teach them anything except blind obedience, and that's strictly a lesson for fascists."

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' Since the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the College Republicans announced their alliance to combat what they term a "hate speech code" in the rules of student conduct, a campus discourse on the issue has emerged, with proponents of both sides coming forward. While the ACLU and the Republicans maintain that the University should not be allowed to punish students based on any form of speech, some members of the Brown community have publicly supported some speech standards. http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' Karen McLaurin-Chesson '74, director of the Third World Center and assistant dean of the college, feels that in order to build a community, some standards for behavior must be set, including standards of appropriate speech. "Certain speech sets people down," McLaurin said. "Within the context of free speech, we must be responsible, respectful and hospitable." However, McLaurin also feels that establishing these parameters for responsible speech must be done, even if they seem to violate "free speech." "If we put forward proper guidelines and community standards, we can certainly abridge free speech," McLaurin said. http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' Robin Rose, Dean of Student Life, said it is necessary to draw a distinction between hate speech and harassing behavior. "At a place like Brown, academic freedom and freedom of expression is absolutely fundamental," Rose said. "However, we are also legally committed to an environment where harassing actions are not tolerated." http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' Rose pointed out that many times, these commitments collide. She said that it is very difficult to find a balance between the two, but specified there are definite circumstances under which hateful speech may be considered harassing behavior. "What someone says must always be taken in the context of what they are doing," Rose said. http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' The controversy surrounding the Hann case prompted then President Vartan Gregorian to write an op-ed piece in The Washington Post about hate speech. "There is a difference between unpopular ideas expressed in a public context and epithets delivered in the context of harassing, intimidating or demeaning behavior," Gregorian wrote. "At Brown, we expect students to know the difference." http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' An essay written by judge and lawyer Simon Rifkind emphasizes this point. "Fighting words are unprotected because they do not advance the civil discourse which the First Amendment is designed to promote," Rifkind said. "A university is a very special community. Speech which is not civil is at odds with the purpose of the campus." http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' David Estlund, associate professor of philosophy, agreed with the ACLU that the Tenets of Community Behavior were indeed ambiguous and may contain unconstitutional language. However, he stressed that all speech restrictions were not necessarily a violation of the First Amendment. http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' He said the conduct code should not contain any language referring to specific disapproved opinions or messages. "[However], changing the Tenets doesn't mean that hate speech should be tolerated by the campus community," Estlund said. "Laws against harassment can cover some speech without being unconstitutional, as long as they don't single out certain opinions for special disfavor." http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Speech Or Harassment: U. Fights Language That 'Sets People Down' Responding to this sentiment that any restrictions on speech are unconstitutional, Estlund pointed out that there are several speech restrictions already present in society, which are completely legal. He indicated that libel, perjury, conspiracy, fraud and illegal betting are all examples of speech restrictions currently present in American society. http://www.brown.edu/Students/Brown_College_Republicans/old/bdh3.html

Libel= a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt Perjury=the voluntary violation of an oath or vow either by swearing to what is untrue or by omission to do what has been promised under oath : false swearing Conspiracy=to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement <accused of conspiring to overthrow the government> Fraud= an act of deceiving or misrepresenting illegal betting= to make a bet

Is this speech protected?

Flag burning

Is this speech protected? Burning a cross in front of an African-American home?

Burning a cross

Is this speech protected?

Libel

Solicitation to commit murder

Is this speech protected? Fire! Fire! Run for your lives?

Freedom of Speech in Taiwan

Are you in favor of unlimited freedom of speech?