Universities must unequivocally protect free speech

Re: “What is the role of universities on issue of free speech?” June 25 Ved Nanda column.

I read through Professor Ved Nanda’s article searching for a defense of the First Amendment, but what I found was a rationalization for limiting free speech to those that have been anointed correct in their beliefs. Those who are incorrect because they offend the first group are to be denied access to universities because their speech might attack someone’s “humanity.”

On the same day I read this article, I read about protesters in Portland, Ore., attacking police with objects that included urineand feces-filled balloons, balloons with unknown chemicals, marbles, bricks and rocks. From my perspective, the threats or incitement to violence are coming from the protesters. I have seen no evidence of conservative speakers inciting violence.

If a person with opposing views cannot speak on a university campus for fear of physical attacks, then the problem is not the speaker but the protesters. The role of the university is to unequivocally protect free speech on their campus. William R. Stoneham, Centennial