Posted by Todd Zywicki:
Free Speech at Bucknell:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_06_07-2009_06_13.shtml#1244755100
[1]According to FIRE, Bucknell's administrators aren't fans of satire.
The first one is pretty clever:
Bucknell's recent forays into censorship began on March 17, 2009,
when BUCC members stood at Bucknell's student center and passed out
fake dollar bills with President Obama's face on the front and the
sentence "Obama's stimulus plan makes your money as worthless as
monopoly money" on the back. One hour into this symbolic protest,
Bucknell administrator Judith L. Mickanis approached the students
and told them that they were "busted," that they were "soliciting"
without prior approval, and that their activity was equivalent to
handing out Bibles.
The students protested, but despite the fact that Bucknell's
solicitation policy explicitly covers only sales and fundraising
materials, Mickanis insisted via e-mail that prior permission was
needed to pass out any materials�"anything from Bibles to other
matter."
They also got busted for the old "affirmative action bake sale":
A video recording shows that an hour into BUCC's protest, Associate
Dean of Students Gerald W. Commerford arrived and informed the
students that he had the "opportunity" to shut down the sale
because the prices they were charging were different (lower) than
what they had listed on their event application. The students
offered to change the prices on the spot, but Commerford refused
and insisted that they close the event immediately and file another
application for a later date.
Accordingly, BUCC members filed an application to hold the same
event two weeks later, but were then told that they would have to
obtain the permission of the Dean of Students to hold a
"controversial" event. No such permission is required by Bucknell
policy. When the students nevertheless attempted to get this
special permission, Commerford rejected the request. In a recorded
conversation, Commerford said that such a bake sale would violate
Bucknell's nondiscrimination policy, even with satirical
recommended (not actual) pricing, and that the only event he would
approve on the topic would be a debate in a different forum
altogether. This novel restriction also does not exist among
Bucknell's official policies.
References
1. http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/10735.html
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