If you are a Wright State student, chances are you have heard or seen the Quad Gods preach. The Quad Gods use Wright State’s campus a space to voice their opinions on various, controversial topics. Primarily, these include religion, sex and abortion.
In order to demonstrate on a public campus, individuals and groups require no invitation. On Monday, Gary Dickstein, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, sent out an email stating that, “As a state-supported public university, Wright State must allow individuals or groups who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights on its campuses the opportunity to do so.”
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They are protected by the first amendment unless they are “disruptive”; Wright State currently has no set definition for what qualifies as being disruptive.
House Bill 363, the Campus Free Speech Act, was officially introduced in Ohio in Sept. 2017. It restricts colleges from preventing specific speakers to come onto campus. It also states that any “generally accessible area” of campus is open for public expression.
While colleges may not be able to restrict what people have to say, they can restrict how it is said. According to Edward Fitzgerald, Political Science professor, “They [colleges] can regulate either the places where you can do it [free speech] or how you can do it.” They can restrict one’s conduct, not their speech content, says Fitzgerald. “You can’t have content-based restrictions,” he explains.
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For example, certain types of signs and sound amplification are prohibited. So is obstructing the flow of traffic.
Many students say they feel harassed by the Quad Gods. In order for speech to constitute harassment, one must “specifically come after you with the intent to provoke,” defines Fitzgerald. “Otherwise, they have a right to speak.”
“I think it really has to be sort of in your face to a particular person,” claims Fitzgerald. “So I don’t see what they say out here as probably what they would call fighting words.”
A petition to ban the Quad Gods from campus was once attempted but was unsuccessful due to its unconstitutionality.
