Andrew Server
aserver@uwyo.edu
I have drafted several opinions in the past regarding freedom of speech and expression on other campuses. These pieces have been drafted in hopes of bringing to notice how the First Amendment is experiencing blatant infringements within other universities nationwide. However, now I must direct a similar critique against our very own institution.
The issue here is (or ought to be seen as) bipartisan in nature and would benefit all political clubs on campus. This issue is this: candidates running for public office should be allowed to visit and campaign on the premises of a public university. Currently the University of Wyoming has in place a policy where no candidate running for an office may appear as if they are campaigning on campus. The provision has the convenient caveat where the president of the university (or designee) holds sole dominion over being able to permit candidates to campaign on campus at their leisure. This leads to absurd red tape and outright barriers, which infringes on our freedom of speech.
I do not propose that the university remove all prerequisites to candidates who desire to visit and campaign on campus. I do agree that there ought to be some structure and process to allowing campaigning here. Instead, I would like to take this moment to stress to those charged with altering university policy to consider a system where groups and student groups interested in a candidate may be able to sponsor that candidate and bring them to campus themselves. With this being the case, there would still be some structure to bringing campaigners to campus while opening opportunities to students to access campaigns.
The argument could be made that in so stringently restricting the presence of candidates, the university is allowing a filter and preventing the appearance of partisanship. I argue that having the exact opposite policy would ensure even greater nonpartisanship. Allowing for candidates from all party backgrounds to have the opportunity to appear and campaign on campus would entreat the university to ultimate hands-off nonpartisanship.
Allowing groups and student groups on campus to sponsor candidates to campaign not only allows for further bipartisanship, but it also increases the access to political information to college students. As an already politically illiterate group, no doubt millennials and other college students are in most need of political visitations brought to them via campaigns appearing on campus. I would wager that the tax paying citizens of Wyoming would not react kindly to the fact that the university is essentially barring the ability of individuals to bring candidates to campus in order to become better-informed individuals. For the sake of our youth’s political literacy, we ought to allow candidates to bring their campaigns to our campus.
The issue of not being able to allow campaigners on campus is an issue of freedom of speech. For instance, if the Collegiate Democrats or the College Republicans on campus seek to express their views in bringing a candidate to campus, they are not allowed to as it stands. It is also a violation to freedom of speech to the candidates, who, as Wyoming citizens are not allowed to speak their minds and campaign on our public campus. For this reason, we ought to allow candidates to bring their campaigns to campus.
Allowing candidates to be brought on campus by university groups with the intention to campaign would make the University of Wyoming a more viable stop in Wyoming local politics. It would allow candidates to care more regarding making university stops and talking to students.
Students and millennials now more than ever need to be encouraged to politics not discouraged from it. We have grown up in a public school where civic duty isn’t emphasized, so why are we seeing it stifled here on campus? Allow clubs such as the College Republicans and Collegiate Republicans at the University of Wyoming to do their jobs in being political clubs. Allow them to bring campaigning candidates to campus.
