FIRE vs. GMU

Julian Sanchez | November 17, 2005

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is challenging a George Mason University policy requiring pre-approval of handbills and leaflets. When a student protesting military recruiters on campus was assaulted by another student, police arrested the protester, apparently because he was in violation of the policy. (No charges were filed against him.) GMU has apparently tapped a "faculty led committee" to review the policy.

What's particularly intersting here, for those of you who aren't familiar with Mason, is that the school is a kind of libertarian mecca. It's home to both The Institute for Humane Studies and The Mercatus Center. Its faculty boasts folks like Tyler Cowen, Walter Williams, Vernon Smith, James Buchanan, Don Boudreaux, Tom Hazlett, Jon Adler, Ronald Rotunda, Gordon Tullock, and Judge Douglas Ginsburg. In other words, it may well be the most heavily libertarian-staffed institution of higher education in the country; certainly it's the one with the highest concentration of eminent libertarian names. A "faculty led committee" should, one hopes, make short work of the policy.

Comments

|11.17.05 @ 12:40PM|#

I certainly hope the faculty led committee kills this quick. I attended that school in the early '80s (before they really became a libertarian mecca) and I am proud of my Alma Mater. But this story really upsets me. Although it wasn't as libertarian when I attended, still I bask in the glory of the school's later libertarian emphasis. As a libertarian, I am proud that I hold a diploma from George Mason University. Please, faculty led committee, make me proud again!

|11.17.05 @ 12:47PM|#

Some libertarians are more equal than others.

|11.17.05 @ 12:47PM|#

When a student protesting military recruiters on campus was assaulted by another student, police arrested the protester, apparently because he was in violation of the policy.

Of course, after a decade of whining about "PC police on campus," conservatives will ignore this incident. In fact, the thought of one those "anti-war commies" getting beaten up by patriotic thugs probably gives them quite a stiffy.

|11.17.05 @ 12:51PM|#

Akira--

Remember the excuses the conservatives made during the Republican convention, when that clean-cut thug-boy kicked the woman protestor who had already been wrestled to the ground? Yeah, it takes a real man to kick an already-overpowered woman half his size.

|11.17.05 @ 1:02PM|#

Remember the excuses the conservatives made during the Republican convention, when that clean-cut thug-boy kicked the woman protestor who had already been wrestled to the ground?

As I said in the Bill Clinton thread, Jennifer, the Right went gone over the deep end years ago. To them, this isn't about simple disagreement on issues. They actually think that opposing the War and Bush is akin to flying airliners into the WTC.

They're nuts.

Kevin Carson|11.17.05 @ 1:05PM|#

That protestor should call in free speech advocate David Horowitz to defend his rights. David? David? (crickets chirping).

|11.17.05 @ 1:15PM|#

Of course, after a decade of whining about "PC police on campus," conservatives will ignore this incident.

Funny, I thought FIRE was one of those whiny groups going on about "PC police on campus".

|11.17.05 @ 1:30PM|#

Mayhap they are, Eric. I confess that I was speaking in generalities.

I remember back when I was a conservative college student in the early 90s, me and my CR buddies would have taken the mere presence of an anti-war protester as a sign that the "liberal" administration was out to brainwash us by flooding the campus with communist, anti-american ideas.

Today, I've come to realize, that like the campus lefties cry of "racism," the conservative usage of "political correctness" could mean "I don't want to hear what you have to say."

|11.17.05 @ 1:44PM|#

Why would they need a faculty-led committee to review this policy? This seems to be a clear enough issue. You're either able to speak and write freely on campus or not.

If leaflets must be submitted for approval, and some won't be approved, that qualifies as "not".

|11.17.05 @ 3:01PM|#

I am still upset over this. I wrote an email to the president of the university, Dr. Merton, to express my feelings. I cited my full credentials as an honored and respected graduate of the university, although that might not sway him. I also suggested that I'd send this years money to FIRE instead of the GMU alumni fund. I invited President Merton to forward my letter to this "faculty led committee." Hopefully, that will help some.

|11.17.05 @ 3:37PM|#

My impression is that, outside of the law school and the economics department, GMU is pretty typically leftist in academic ideology.

|11.17.05 @ 4:12PM|#

"'"Of course, after a decade of whining about "PC police on campus," conservatives will ignore this incident."

"'Funny, I thought FIRE was one of those whiny groups going on about "PC police on campus".'

"Mayhap they are, Eric. I confess that I was speaking in generalities."

So maybe speaking in generalities isn't a good idea. It's precisely the conservatives who are stepping up to the plate here and defending free speech. You as much as accused conservatives of only caring about free speech when it was their ox being gored. How about an acknowledgement that their position on academic free speech might instead be motivated by principle?

|11.17.05 @ 5:29PM|#

You're all lousy libertarians. A real libertarian would know that the only reason GMU shouldn't be allowed to institute this rule is because it is a government-funded institution. Were it a private institution, a good libertarian would argue they should be free to ban any speech they want, and you could choose not to go there if you objected to that policy.

|11.17.05 @ 7:31PM|#

I agree with freedom fighter (assuming GMU is gov-funded) about the free-speech thing. It is strange that the attacker wasn't arrested, though. Perhaps there is more to this story than we are being told (of course).

|11.18.05 @ 9:32AM|#

You're freaking me out!

After reading this I did a quick check of Case Law's faculty page. I am happy to report that you were misinformed; we still have Jon Adler (but he did get his law degree from George Mason).

|11.18.05 @ 10:49AM|#

No list of libertarian lights at GMU should be complete without Kling and Caplan, too.