The University of Southern California has fined the USC Free Culture Club. The FC club's sin was failing to get permission to post fliers that protested the school's use of a "Free Speech Zone" — the only place on campus where free speech is permitted.
Apparently, the university doesn't see the irony of this.
I'm spending the year teaching at USC, as the Canada-US Fulbright Chair in Public Diplomacy, and this is just embarrassing. The whole point of the university is to foster free inquiry and free speech. It was ridiculous of the university to impose an Orwellian free speech zone on its students, and more ridiculous still to punish kids for protesting this.
Apparently the fine is $1 for every flier that the kids put up without permission. Seems like a bargain to me. Maybe we should start a "sponsor a THIS IS NOT A FREE SPEECH ZONE flier" fund — for $1, someone will laser-print a flier with your sponsorship info on it and post it outside of the USC Free Speech Zone. The $1 will go to paying the fine…
In a mild act of civil disobedience, USC Free Culture posted flyers outside of the "Free Speech Zone" that stated simply "This is Not a Free Speech Zone." Our focus was to explore free speech on campus within the given rules (found here) while simultaneously arguing that USC's controlled definitions of free speech run counter to "the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit."
The university soon sent us an e-mail, fining USC Free Culture for violating university policy on unapproved flyer posting and charging us an undisclosed amount for the removal of the sidewalk chalk. USC Free Culture's scheduling privileges, which are necessary for most on-campus group activities, have been suspended until the fines are paid.
Update:
Matt relays this quote from his Kansas State University roomate, Grant Buell: "I thought America was a Free Speech Zone." (KSU also has a free speech zone for students)
Update 2: Photos here — thanks, Andy!
