PoliticsOklahoma Governor Signs Bill To Create 'Free Speech Committee'...

Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill To Create ‘Free Speech Committee’ for Public Universities and Colleges


Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed a bill into law Wednesday that creates a free speech oversight committee for the state’s public colleges and universities. House Bill 3543 was passed with bipartisan support by the state’s Senate earlier this week. 

H.B. 3543 would create the Oklahoma Free Speech Committee to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, which is the governing agency for the states public higher education institutions. The bill tasks the new committee with reviewing and recommending college free speech policies and training, as well as reviewing complaints from students and faculty who believe their First Amendment rights were violated.

The bill signals a break from current culture war practices by encouraging more free speech on college campuses. H.B. 3543 seems far more consistent with a belief in the importance of free speech rights and culture than either conservative efforts to forbid the discussion of “divisive concepts” and abolish tenure or liberal efforts to demand students and faculty adhere to progressive groupthink.  

The bill’s sponsor, Chad Caldwell, (R–Enid) argues that H.B. 3543 would establish an “understanding of just some general concerns, mainly that our colleges and universities are prepared to protect the rights and the free speech rights for all our faculty and staff.” 

When writing the bill, Caldwell took inspiration from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a First Amendment organization focused on colleges and universities. Zero Oklahoma schools have achieved FIRE’s greenlight rating, which is given to universities with written policies that protect student speech rights and academic freedom for faculty. 

“FIRE is pleased to see that Governor Stitt signed HB 3543,” FIRE Legislative Counsel John Coleman tells Reason in an email. “Creating a committee that will review speech policies of Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities is a positive step forward in protecting and promoting free speech rights for students and faculty.”

“We shouldn’t have a professor worried about getting fired if they say this or that,” Caldwell said. “We shouldn’t have a student that has to worry about, if I don’t take a Republican view or a liberal view that I’m going to get an ‘F’ on a paper. That shouldn’t be something that’s going on at any of our colleges or universities.”

The bill passed the 48-person Senate with only two opposing votes. 

In a statement responding to the legislation, the State Board of Regents said, “As public colleges and universities, our state system institutions embrace the First Amendment and recognize the importance of free speech, which is reflected in myriad viewpoints shared through academic discourse on campuses across the state.” The Board continued, “If this measure becomes law, we will follow the provisions to create a process that ensures our institutions continue to be places where the open exchange of ideas and perspectives is encouraged and protected.



Original Source Link

Latest News

What’s open and what’s closed on Good Friday 2024?

Good Friday is a conundrum for many people. Easter is such a major holiday in the Christian faith...

Apple sues former iOS engineer for allegedly leaking Vision Pro, Journal app details

Apple is suing a former employee for leaking confidential information, including unknown details about Apple’s Journal app, the...

Biden Confirms That Dark Brandon Is Real At Fundraiser With Clinton And Obama

President Biden confirmed that Dark Brandon is real during a fundraiser with former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack...

Rent prices across the U.S. grew in March, with one exception

 Ascentxmedia | E+ | Getty ImagesRent prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments grew in March for the first...

Must Read

How 1990s Libertarians Laid the Groundwork for Cryptocurrency

The Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek wanted to denationalize...
- Advertisement -

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you