FIRE Third Letter to Bucknell University President John Bravman, November 11, 2010

November 11, 2010

President John C. Bravman
Bucknell University
220 Marts Hall
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837

Sent via U.S. Mail and Facsimile (570-577-3369)

Dear President Bravman:

I am reaching out to you because tonight, Bucknell University again will be featured on national television due to its violations of its own promises of free expression. While I know that Bucknell does not agree with our characterization of past events, and we assert that the factual record is plainly on our side, I hope we can take this opportunity to put our disagreements over those events behind us.

As FIRE's June 18 and September 1 letters to you explained, Bucknell maintains two policies that must be revised in order for FIRE to remove Bucknell from our Red Alert list. One, a campus-wide Sales and Promotions policy, requires preregistration and preapproval of "promotions" of "causes." The other, an unwritten policy promulgated by General Counsel Wayne A. Bromfield, prohibits expressive, political bake sales such as "affirmative action" and "gender wage gap" bake sales, even when the pricing is optional and satirical.

Despite our sharp disagreements about the incidents that occurred under the previous Bucknell president, I would like nothing more than to remove Bucknell from our Red Alert list. Yet, I cannot do this unless the university revises these policies. If Bucknell were to do so, we would be thrilled to acknowledge the change and give great credit to your new administration. Whether you like "affirmative action" and "gender wage gap" bake sales or not, you might not know that they have been held at dozens of universities across the country without serious incident and have resulted in engaged, thought-provoking discussions on contentious national issues. At some colleges, students have held their own counter-protest bake sales, demonstrating the principle that speech one dislikes should be countered with more speech, not censorship. I believe you will find that if you honor Bucknell's free speech promises and trust Bucknell students to exercise their right to engage in meaningful debate on contentious issues, the debate will benefit, not harm, the intellectual rigor and discourse on your campus.

With my best wishes during the celebration of your inauguration this week,

Sincerely,

Greg Lukianoff
President

cc:

Kenneth W. Freeman, Chair, Board of Trustees
John E. Bachman, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees
J. Randall MacDonald, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees
Wayne A. Bromfield, General Counsel and Parliamentarian, Board of Trustees
Michael A. Smyer, Provost
Linda Locher, Interim Dean of Students
Lewis A. Marrara II, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs
Kari M. Conrad, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Campus Activities and Programs
Judith L. Mickanis, Executive Director, Events Management Office
Jeanne K. Hafer, Director of Non-University Events
Tom Evelyn, Senior Director of News and Media Relations
Professor Thomas Shawe, BUCC Advisor