Speech Codes

Speech codes are very hard to make and be constitutional. At Indiana University, Bloomington has very precise and good speech codes. Most of the codes aren’t too vague and tell people exactly what they are not allowed to do and where they are not allowed to do it. Their speech codes have no new impact on how I see the school. I still really like the school and am excited to be a part of it. I think in some cases the speech codes are a little too vague and could be fought against if the time came. However, for the most part the codes are solid codes that straight out tell you what would not be acceptable.
I recently read about cases from other schools that had an issue with parties at the fraternities making racist actions. They would dress up in KKK outfits and wear black face paint and act out lynchings or joke around about. “Whites pretended to be black-mocking the physical appearance, speech, gait, and behavior of African Americans” (Jim Crow on Fraternity Row). The school shut down the two fraternities temporarily, and was investigating shutting them down permanently. The school said they were investigating apparent violations of the university’s harassment and discrimination Policies” (Jim Crow on Fraternity Row) Based on the speech codes at Indiana they would not be able to do anything. There was nothing that they really violated, other than one code that could be interpreted in a way that could get the in trouble. The code is, “[W]e will not tolerate any form of bigotry, harassment, intimidation, threat, or abuse, whether verbal or written, physical or psychological, direct or implied. ... We will respond to such behavior in an appropriate manner, recognizing that education is our most powerful tool.” They could make the actions of the fraternities as a psychological intimidation and harassment. However, they wouldn’t have much of a case. I don’t think I would mind that they wouldn’t be able to do anything. The brothers were just exercising their rights to free speech. There isn’t much a public school can do about that since they are bound to the constitution since they are part of government.
The way that FIRE defines a “speech code” is, “any university regulation or policy that prohibits expression that would be protected by the First Amendment in society at large. Any policy—such as a harassment policy, a student conduct code, or a posting policy—can be a speech code if it prohibits protected speech or expression.” I agree with FIRE on their definition on speech codes. Although they are there to protect people it also limits the rights given to everyone in the First Amendment of our Constitution. I do agree on their mission statement, “to protect the unprotected and to educate the public and communities of concerned Americans about the threats to these rights on our campuses and about the means to preserve them.” But sometimes the speech codes need to be put in place so everyone can feel safe and get an equal education, which is also a right. So I agree with them to certain extent.
Speech codes aren’t easy to make or understand but they are important for everyone to be able to have fun and learn at their university.

Fine Arts and Athletics Should Only Be Privately Funded?

The other day when we arrived in band our band director sat on his chair and began to read us an article from our school paper. It was an editorial written by one of the juniors at our school. His idea was that the fine arts and the athletics should only be funded by outside sources. He doesn’t believe the school should fund them at all because “they don’t help prepare you for the future.” The author believed that the school should be spending more money on core class books and updates than the fine arts and athletics.
I personally am very active in both fine arts and athletics. Therefore, it hit me hard, and this is a very opinionated post. I have been able to connect to people that I never thought I would even meet if it weren’t for the arts and athletics. The athletics has helped me get confidence in myself and learn how to work with and trust other people. It has helped me stay in shape and battle some health issues. It is also very fun and stimulating. It teaches you team work and how to think strategically about certain things. In math, a core class, everyone always asks, “Why do we need to know this? When will we ever use it?” The teacher always says, it’s not the actual information that you will need in the future; it’s the way of thinking about it and problem solving. This way of thinking is also brought into sports. You learn to work with other people, which is very helpful in the future, you learn self-control and self-awareness, which is helpful both in the work place and in social situations, and you also learn how to think of things strategically and be aware of everything around you. You learn things that you really can’t learn in a class room or anywhere else. Athletics are just as important to be a part of as any core class that we have. It helps us grow and develop in ways the class room can’t. Therefore, it is still teaching us and teaching us very important skills and should be funded by the school so we can get the best out of them and learn all we can from them.
The fine arts make you think differently than anything you do throughout your day. It gives you the ability to be creative and look at the world in a different way. I know that since I have started being very involved in the fine arts community I have learned to look at everyone and everything differently. I have learned to problem solve in ways I would never think of otherwise. In band we use multiple parts of our brain just to play our instrument and read music at the same time. It takes fundamentals from every core class and puts them together. We use math for counting and notes, we use history to learn about what we play, and we use English to read. The fine arts really pull everything together into one class and teach us things nothing else can. If we don’t get funding from the school we wouldn’t be able to learn as much and reach our full potential
The fine arts and athletics teach us things we can’t learn anywhere else. They should continue to be funded by the school so we can learn all we can from both of them and reach our full potential.