The Contraband

In American society, our rights are a privilege. The right to bear arms is a privilege that has been limited to a small degree. This has been done to further protect society. Some problems arise as to where we should draw the line, but in all, it is done for the good. I am Ryan Nugent and I recently witnessed an abuse of the right of the First Amendment on our campus on Feb. 19. We had an individual by the name of Matt Bourgault come to campus and say harassing remarks to individuals belonging to a wide variety of groups. When I asked what could be done about this, our Dean of Student Services, Dr. Toby Osburn said nothing could be done. He stated that anyone has the right to come on campus and speak. He then told me if I wished to reserve a spot like Matt Bourgault did, I could go pick up a copy of the Public Forum Policy.

After picking up a copy of the Public Forum Policy, I made 400 copies of the form. The reason behind this odd action is quite simple, yet effective. I believe the University should prevent people from coming onto this campus and facilitating a public speech that makes it necessary to have policemen prevent people from retaliating against harassment. If 40 people were to fill out 10 forms, you could effectively take up every space for public speech on campus for 10 weeks. If centralized, we could actually take those forty spots and have people speak on behalf of those members. This would promote proper First Amendment use.

Two days following the incident, I was informed by Dr. Osburn that if I, or any other student or faculty member filled out this policy, it would not be accepted. The reason I was given was because we already are allowed to speak on campus. Yet, if a person were to reserve the spot we are speaking in, we would have to vacate that area until their public form time expired.

LSU's Free Speech Alley used to have moderators. I am proposing some kind of action to happen on campus here. Yet our vice president for the Division of Special Services and Equity has responded with a letter saying, "This is a First Amendment speech right that cannot be controlled by a university." This is contradictory to the law stating that the First Amendment right can be controlled by reasonable measures of time, place and manner. When I called the Department of Civil services based in Dallas, I was told that there is nothing against the law for harassment for religion or sexual preference. A person who targets an individual because of race or physical handicap may be punished by the law. During this conversation, I was given the number of the Office of Education in Washington, D.C. I was then told that a situation like this is to be handled by the University police and campus officials. This raises the question as to which part of our government is to protect our right to a safe and friendly environment on campus.

I am suggesting that all students read the Public Forum Policy at http://www.mcneese.edu/policy. I am also calling on all student organizations, which are still allowed to fill out the form, to e-mail me at thenugentproject@yahoo.com. Also feel free to e-mail for reports of specific harassment from Feb. 19 or if you just want to get involved. Please leave a subject of "form," "harassment" or "help" in order to keep e-mails organized. By doing so, we can effectively implement a policy on campus that promotes the proper use of the First Amendment. This will be the second time an action has been done to prevent the abuse of the First Amendment. In 1990, a Klan rally was almost held on our campus. Students linked arms around campus to show a metaphorical prevention from racism to enter our campus. 29 years later, it is the student's time to stand up again for what they believe.

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