With students and faculty posting heated — and in some cases, racist — reactions to current events on social media, universities find themselves in a legal minefield as they navigate First Amendment rights and the educational ideals of tolerance and respect.
In the past month alone, many college students and faculty have posted inflammatory comments on social media about the death of George Floyd in police custody and about the Black Lives Matter protests. Some posts have also been anti-Semitic.
It didn’t take long for the photo, the Instagram story and the tweet to circulate and for thousands of people to sign petitions demanding that Penn State swiftly expel Milligan, LSU rescind its offer of admission to Dollar and UNCW fire Adams.
“This is a direct hate crime and a threat to my safety,” wrote student Miriam Waters on a petition to rescind Dollar’s admission from LSU. “I am a tuition paying student just like him and I should not have to worry about my livelihood because this institution wants to add a number to their student population.”
A petition for disciplinary action against Penn State’s Milligan has garnered close to 157,000 signatures. “Allowing her to remain a student of Penn State is a disservice to all Jewish people, living or dead,” said the petition. And two petitions to fire UNCW’s Adams for his inflammatory comments have collected a total of nearly 90,000 signatures.
But Penn State did not expel Milligan, LSU did not rescind its offer of admission to Dollar and UNCW did not fire Adams. Instead, each university released versions of the same sentiment: “While we condemn racism, we’re beholden to the First Amendment and a student’s right to free speech.”
