March for Our Expression

Believe it or not, most of the news focusing on student self-expression is still dominated by things like the student walkout and the gun control march. This again makes it a little hard to focus on just college students' self-expression, but regardless it's important to investigate the consequences. The last blog we looked specifically at school administration relations with the student body in terms of walking out, so this week we'll look at some responses to the marches. 

On Saturday, March 24 people around America flooded the streets in a political protest. According to the New York Times, there were marches in 390 of the 495 congressional districts. That is difficult to imagine such a cohesive act across the nation. Even more interesting, this was a largely student-run movement.

Here in State College, the march began at the high school and ended on Old Main. I participated in the March, not for personal reasons, but primarily because my friend feels very strongly about the subject. About six months ago, her best friend was shot four times. So I joined her in the march, along with some other friends, because this meant a lot to her. 

I took the opportunity to speak with some of the people that I was marching along with. Some of the people, like me, didn't really have a personal connection to what has been occurring. Instead, they were marching just based on their own moral code they've developed throughout the years. However, there were several parents and grandparents in the march with their children who were vocal about their intense desire to secure their children's safety. I'm going to be honest, some it was incredibly touching and it was difficult to listen to some people. When I asked one woman, she described that she had been around for several past school shooting and has seen enough. When she showed her poster, she started crying as she said that she tried so hard to get all 17 people who died painted on it.

Old Main

It is difficult to determine if the high school here or Penn State was outwardly supportive of the actions. However, I did meet several professors along the march who were either participating or giving support from the sidelines. Of course, they do not represent the entire institution, but it was amazing to witness professors partaking in something so political that some might shy away from. Furthermore, the mayor was there as well! His presence in itself seems to suggest that the event was at least tolerated by both the high school and Penn State since I doubt he would partake in something that could get him in trouble.

The march here at State College was run specifically by the high school students. They began the march and they ended it. However, there were several college students who also spoke at Old Main as well as relevant community members. This national project is a peak depiction of student expression. What's significant to note is that this type of event is not restricted to just students of college or students of the college. It stretched across the age gap and united everyone. This, to me, demonstrates the potential of unrestricted student expression. Without the students, the march would not have had enough power to push it forward. But the students reached out to the community to create something bigger than themselves. They even gathered the police to ease the march. So, this is an example of students creating something momentous because they weren't shut down. On another note, it was inspiring to see the community bond together, but at the same time, it is a shame that it occurs for something so horrific. 

There was, of course, backlash to the marches but it didn't stem from educational institutions trying to suppress the students. I'd like to think that the institutions have been recognizing that this is an important issue and that institutions provide the opportunity to safely express differing ideologies. 

There is one particular detractor that I think is important to point out because he was a prominent member of the Pennsylvanian government. Rick Santorum suggested, “How about kids, instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations where there is a violent shooter and you can actually respond to that?” I'm not really even going to comment on this because he even retracted this comment. 

So we've discussed the spellbinding march for life. Now, I think we can spend a little time looking at a bill that was passed in the state of Washington that extends freedom of speech to student journalists (meaning that none of their work will be censored). This makes Washington the 14th state to enact a law like this. This takes a lot of the tensions out between student self-expression and institutional authority. At this point, a college would be unable to censor anything that a student writes, thus giving the student full abilities to express themselves. Essentially, the universities are out of the equation. In terms of the ethical reasoning, I think it is a fair law. Journalists are meant to provide information and differing opinions, and I think it is easier to allow some controversial opinions through writing rather than inviting a controversial speaker. Of course, there is some writing that could clearly go too far. It will be interesting to see the effects of the law in Washington and see if other states adopt similar laws that remove universities from censoring student work. 

However, what's more prevalent at the moment is the student-run events for gun control. I will be watching with a keen eye what happens. It is easy to participate in a march because you can get swept up in the fervor and the kairos is ideal. But, I have to wonder if there will be any legal changes since the legal process is incredibly slow with many roadblocks. I imagine many, many people will lose interest and I wonder what will happen to the movement as a whole.