h, especially since every person holds their own opinion. “On a campus that is free and open, no idea can be banned or forbidden. No viewpoint or message may be deemed so hateful or disturbing that it may not be expressed” (On Freedom 1). In the college campus environment, greater diversity is gained if all ideas are expressed. The person who is spouting bigoted speech can be refuted with positive counter speech. Otherwise, simply telling the bigot not to use such language sends a message of disapproval, but not understanding of the wrong. As John Morley once said, “you have not converted a man, because you have silenced him.” This is true on a college campus. The government or any other organization should not have the right to deny one the right to express himself freely. Free expression leads to learning, which is important when tempered individuals need a sink for their opinion. As S. Douglas Murray of Villanova University School of Law points out that “Banning hate speech may exacerbate the very problem it seeks to cure. Censorship of hate speech can have the effect of glorifying the speaker, whose speech then receives far greater attention and publicity than it would have received otherwise. Speech codes may have increased campus intolerance by making martyrs and heroes of crude fraternity brothers and obscure groups with extreme views. Therefore, these codes may have backfired by creating an even more hostile environment for the victims of hate speech (Murray 1).” Also, some colleges and universities have found that the only way they can ensure protection of all students is to place restrictions on hate speech. The problem is that many of these codes, as found in the John Doe vs. University of Michigan case, are vague and do not express directly the goals of the speech code (Campus 4). The Supreme Court found that the Michigan speech codes were “general and elude precise ...
