On college campuses across the country, individuals are discriminated by his or her race, gender, physical appearances, and sexual preferences. In response, many universities have adopted policies that limit free speech. Free speech is protected under the first amendment, which guarantees each individual freedom of expression. College campuses should abide by the first amendment, which guarantees students free speech. Restricting free speech not only violates the first amendment, it also allows bigotry to remain if hate language is regulated. Freedom of expression is particularly important on a college campus, because the educational forum is where individuals come together and share their ideas with each other. Without freedom of expression, students will not have the chance to learn how to cope with all the different views. .
In the article "Regulating Racist speech on campus," Charles Lawrence III tells us "The purpose of the First Amendment is to foster the greatest amount of speech." We need rights such as the first amendment to express and share our ideas toward one another. Restricting freedom of expression violates the first amendment. By banning free speech, it restricts students and faculty to openly discuss debate issues because certain materials can hurt others; if nothing is done, nothing will be resolved. Even though hate language can detract from an individual's education, there is no way of stopping that from occurring. Whether banning or allowing free speech, such prejudice will always be there. If free speech is banned, there is no way one can resolve such an issue, and discrimination will continue to happen. In the article "The betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses" Alan C. Kors gives us examples of how some colleges went over board with their "speech codes." The University of Maryland not only prohibits offensive language, but also prohibits "gestures that are expressive of an idea, opinion, or emotion.