The newly announced ASU Center for Free Speech sparked a conversation about the University's role in free speech rights on campus.
Launched during a period of political tensions on campus, the center aims to protect open dialogue using specific boundaries, leaving questions about how these measures will impact the exchange of ideas.
The center plans to host an annual forum starting in Spring 2025, according to ASU News.
University President Michael Crow said he believes universities like ASU play a vital role in free speech.
"Protection and preservation of freedom of speech in a public university environment, while important, is not enough," Crow said in a statement. "We need (a) greater understanding of the balance of equal rights within a community, a balance that seeks active discourse and the fearless inclusion of voices."
Regulating inclusion and unrestricted free speech creates a tension that the center will have to navigate.
Don Budinger, an ASU Trustee and donor for the Center for Free Speech explained the events that led to the center's creation.
"There was a center at ASU called the Lewis Center ... which was an entity at the Barrett Honors College. The donor came to the conclusion this spring that he didn't think that that center should have any guardrails," Budinger said. "He has pulled his funding and closed down that center."
After the closure of the T.W. Lewis Center, Budinger felt there was a need for a platform that promotes free speech at ASU.
READ MORE: Starting this week, the T.W. Lewis Center at Barrett is no more
Budinger said when he asked Crow if the University could use funding for a new free speech center, the University president replied "Absolutely."
"Every single great idea has guardrails," Budinger said. For the new center, there are three: Speakers cannot engage in physical violence with any ASU-affiliated person, they cannot encroach on the functioning of the University, and they cannot advocate for violence.
"ASU will welcome every point of view, every discussion, even protests, as long as they stay within the physical guidelines and the time guidelines," said Budinger.
Along with the Center for Free Speech, there has been a call to action for ASU students to sign an open letter for "institutional neutrality" on college campuses by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
"Institutional neutrality is the idea that university officials will not make statements on social and political issues that are not integral to the core functioning of the university," said Sami Al-Asady, a senior studying political science and civic and economic thought and leadership. Al-Asady is a student partner with FIRE who has been reaching out to students to sign this open letter.
The discussion about freedom of speech at ASU has been recently reignited due to the events of the pro-Palestine encampment that occurred on campus in April, Al-Asady said.
READ MORE: 'ASU Liberated Zone' hosts press conference, condemns treatment of student protesters
“By not commenting on social and political issues through an official policy of institutional neutrality in the state, university presidents in Arizona can promote and protect civil discourse, academic freedom and viewpoint diversity for all members of its community," Al-Asady said.
The future ASU Center for Free Speech aims to protect political expression by providing an open platform for all University affiliates, while the FIRE petition would promote free speech by enforcing neutrality at the administrative level. Both Al-Asady and Budinger agree that the college campus is a critical area for the future of free speech.
Edited by Sophia Ramirez, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporters at tjsoren2@asu.edu and dmanatou@asu.edu and follow @teannaJsorensen on X.
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Dimitra is a junior studying biomedical engineering and physics. This is her second semester with The State Press. She has also worked as a research assistant in Kirian Lab.
Teanna is a freshman studying journalism and mass communication. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Utah Bride and Groom Magazine and as a National Youth Correspondent for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference.
