Students crowded all available space in the Mead Witter Room. Photo by Hikari Mine. Reporting contributed by The Lawrentian Editorial Board On Monday, May 22, many Lawrence students gathered in the Warch Campus Center’s Mead-Witter Room for the last LUCC General Council meeting of the term. The unusually large turnout was fueled by the presence…
Free Speech 101
The First Amendment remains close to the hearts of lovers of democracy everywhere. It states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government…
Letters to the Editor: Recent Free Thought Event
The mission of Students for Free Thought is to create a place to examine controversial issues rationally, scientifically and objectively. Last Wednesday, May 17, we hosted an event to address the issue of free speech, especially as it relates to comedy. We showed a documentary that presents a perspective on this topic not usually voiced…
Student Outcry over Free Thought Group
Photo by Allegra Taylor. On Wednesday, May 17, a screening and discussion of the 2015 film “Can We Take a Joke” was held in the Wriston Auditorium. The movie focused on the nature of freedom of expression, making the claim that modern society is too easily offended. The event, organized by Students for Free Thought,…
I watched the “free speech” movie: It was bad
After hearing about the controversy about Students for Free Thought’s screening of “Can We Take a Joke,” I decided to log onto my dad’s Amazon Prime account so I could watch the movie myself. When the film first began, I was excited that Gilbert Gottfried was the first interviewee. He is a celebrated comedian who,…
Letter to the editor: A drunk guy verbally assaulted me and somehow I was the one thrown out of the free speech event for speaking my mind
Last night, I went to a sloppy white supremacist propaganda screening veiled as a forum for ‘free speech and logical thought.’ As it was advertised, it became immediately clear that this was a hotbed for rape jokes, racial and gender slurs. Without any regard for content warnings, these white terrorists on training wheels began their…
Sex Offenders and Rapists Get A Free Pass
On Thursday, April 19, Bill O’Reilly was fired from Fox News for allegations of sexual assault. However, most of these sexual assault allegations came years before the eventual firing of O’Reilly. What really prompted Fox to sever ties with O’Reilly was the drop in advertisers on Fox as well as a drop in their stock.…