My Statement on Freedom of Speech and Racially Motivated incidents.
In light of recent events, I feel that it is the best interest of the students of SMU for me to release the following statement. I am aware that there is no way to satisfy all affected parties with a simple statement, and that my comments are not the most exquisite. Yet, I have a voice as a leader in the SMU community, and I ask that you consider the following:
Yesterday, the 103rd SMU Student Senate gathered to conduct business as usual – business that included deliberations over a piece of legislation that was written to support freedom of speech and viewpoint diversity on campus. Senator Adams’s legislation was heavily debated and ultimately defeated on the floor of the chamber. I would like to thank the roughly two dozen individuals that came to yesterday’s Senate meeting to express their opinions and concerns with the legislation.
This legislation came at an unfortunate time for the students of Southern Methodist University, following a string of racially motivated instances on our campus. This seemed to clash individual freedom of speech with the best interests of a large population of the student body, and led to many strong opinions on the Senate floor. Freedom of speech and personal safety are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are very much intertwined.
Freedom of speech is fundamental right guaranteed to all citizens of this great nation. Unfortunately, there are those who choose to use their freedoms to threaten or intentionally insult others, often motivated by racial or political biases. In these cases, it is often quite difficult to “draw the line” because of vague policies. I would like to make something very clear: we have the right to express our opinion in a non-obstructive manner, but so does everyone else. We may not vandalize anyone’s property, but we may respectfully disagree with their message. We may not block an individual from speaking, but we may respectfully protest their presence. We may not incite violence against another person, but we may respectfully work out our differences.
The recent racially charged instances have begged the question “how far is too far?” On this topic, I stand in solidarity with my fellow mustangs to say that I will not tolerate racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted behavior. We do have freedom of speech, but with great power comes great responsibility. We have the ability to encourage our fellow students, the next generation of world changers. Inversely, we also have the power to plant bitterness and animosity in one another. We need to act like adults and face our differences head on and with respect for opposing viewpoints. It is of no benefit to us to continue to degrade and demean one another.
For our community to be made whole, we need to respect one another. This starts with treating our fellow mustangs as the human beings that they are, and comes to maturity when we learn to respect each other’s opinions. Our lives are not the only ones that matter; our views are not the only ones with merit. We cannot make any progress as a student body if we continue to entrench ourselves in our own beliefs without regard for perspectives that differ from our own.
We cannot solve the problems of bigotry overnight, but if we refuse to try today, there will be no positive change tomorrow. Therefore, I call upon all students of SMU enter into respectful conversation regarding the issues of racial and political division. I ask that all students contact their representation with the Student Senate, so that their ideologies may receive an adequate voice in the campus conversation. Use your freedom of expression to further the conversation in a positive, meaningful way. I invite your input, I value your opinions, and I want to help in any way that I can. Please contact me with questions and comments regarding the climate on campus, and how we can work together to alleviate tensions.
Sincerely,
SMU Student Senator Matthew Lucci
