EXPOSURE TO IDEAS? WHAT IS THIS, COLLEGE? The Daily Signal reports today that two Ohio legislators are introducing a bill to prevent publicly funded colleges in that state from disinviting speakers based on the content of their speech. The text says in part that:

“It is not the proper role of a state institution of higher education to shield individuals from expression protected by the United States … including, without limitation, ideas and opinions that the institution finds unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.”

The article goes on to detail that the bill is based on the Goldwater Institute’s Campus Free Speech Act, designed with Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which says that state universities should allow anyone who is lawfully present on a public campus to demonstrate or protest in public areas, like sidewalks and spaces outside of buildings. It also says colleges should make clear during freshman orientation that they are in favor of free speech and eliminate restrictive speech codes and so-called “free speech zones” on campus.

The Daily Signal piece also details recent activity in the creation of “Bias Response Teams”, which is the subject of an earlier post below by Sarah Hoyt.