A bill passed by Student Council (StuCo) yesterday calls for Hopkins administrators to work towards establishing clearer policies that will protect "all ideas, regardless of whether one agrees with them or not."
The bill further states that StuCo and its subsidiary organizations will "take no action, either directly or indirectly that infringes upon or in any way limits the First Amendment rights of any student or student groups."
According to StuCo President Scott Bierbryer, the bill was passed by a vote of twelve to six, with the remaining six members abstaining.
The bill specifically critiqued the current school policy, Principles for Ensuring Equity, Civility and Respect for All, which states that "rude or disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated."
"It's very vague. That's why it's a threat," Senator for Legislation Evan Lazerowitz said. "Effectively, it's a very broad speech code."
Lazerowitz, who sponsored the bill, felt that even if the principles were used correctly, there would still be an issue. "They may have said something offensive. I might not agree with it. Others might not agree with it. But they have a Constitutional right to say it," he said.
Some StuCo members disagreed with the negative assessment of current school policy. Senator of Authorization Zachary Moor voted against the bill because he felt it included language that was "unnecessarily and unfairly critical of the administration."
The bill states that there has been "degradation of free speech rights on this campus," and claims that the Principles pose a threat to free speech rights.
Moor also felt that the bill was itself largely unnecessary. He claimed that the bill was drafted in response to the Sigma Chi scandal last year, and doubted that a similar situation would ever occur on campus again.
"It's sort of based off a hollow statement," Moor said. "It's outdated, based on a situation that was an anomaly. It really has no relevance for this institution or administration."
Lazerowitz denied Moor's claim that the free speech bill was created in response to the Sigma Chi scandal. "It's not a direct response to Sigma Chi," said Lazerowitz. "Sigma Chi just shows why it's necessary."
Despite these objections, members felt that the free speech bill managed to pass with relatively little argument.
"I was happy with how little conflict there was," Bierbryer said. "The bill was passed in a very efficient manner."
In the next few days, Bierbryer wishes to meet with several deans in order to plan the implementation the free speech bill.
The subsidiaries of StuCo listed in the bill include the Student Activities Council, Hopkins Office of Programing, Spring Fair, the MSE and the Student Assembly and Executive Council.
