Rights in the News: First Amendment Wins Out at UCSD

As we've written here a couple of times already, FIRE was pleased to announce yesterday that the students of the University of California, San Diego won't have to linger another week under the media freeze imposed by its student government. A special thanks to the many who wrote to Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and student government president Utsav Gupta to make their voices heard at UCSD.

We're certainly not done watching UCSD, however; nor are we done watching nearby Southwestern College, whose paper The Southwestern Sun, as I wrote earlier, has continued to keep the pressure on the SWC administration with FIRE's help. As of now, SWC has made no progress remedying its unconstitutional free speech policy. It has, however, laughably determined one student's artwork to be a credible threat to the order of the campus. Read the Sun for more on the efforts of FIRE and SWC students and faculty to restore the First Amendment at Southwestern College.

Finally, don't miss Robert's Pajamas Media column on the will to censor racist speech and its counter-productiveness, as well as Wendy Kaminer's Atlantic piece singling out FIRE's unique non-partisan nature in its defense of student and faculty of all religious and political views.