CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Chancellor Randy Woodson.
Students, faculty and administration gathered at the Free Expression Tunnel Tuesday evening to stand together against different forms of discrimination and inequality. The event is in its first year and was organized by on-campus organizations including Student Government, the GLBT center and CSLEPS.
According to Student Body President Chandler Thompson, the racial slur that was accidentally published in a photo in The Brick, a magazine distributed to incoming freshmen at orientation, was the driving force for the event.
“What’s great is all the students came together to organize the event in response,” Thompson said. “We’ve been overwhelmed with respect.”
Nacoste, founder of “Wake Up, It’s Serious,” an organization dedicated to combating intolerance, spoke on the distinction between free speech and freedom of expression, as well as the responsibility of a community that has that freedom.
“Every student on campus is a citizen on campus, and should be treated as such,” Nacoste said. “Free expression is not the same as your constitutional right to free speech. It’s not – that’s what people are confused about.
“In America no one has the right to total free expression. That’s why we have legal concepts like slander and libel,” Nacoste said during his speech. “Free expression does not require you to identify yourself, and that’s why it’s almost always done unseen, in the shadows. When people make anti-group statements, people act as if there’s nothing to be done. Not so. No one has to or should embrace the this.”
Mija Nichols, a junior in environmental technology, and Michelle Murphy, junior in math education, both said they were glad to see people care and that they were proud to be part of the Wolfpack.
Some students weren’t as enthusiastic, however.
Caleb Melvin, a sophomore in environmental science, said he expected more.
“It wasn’t as big as I thought,” Melvin said. “I see all the slurs and images [in the tunnel], and I think it should be monitored. There should be a limit on
