New Presidential Task Force on Free Expression aims to support WC students and community

By Hope Benjamin, Riley Dauber, and Sophie Kilbride

Elm Staff Writer, Editor-in-Chief, and Opinion Editor

On Sept. 4, English professor and Presidential Task Force on Free Expression co-chair Sean Meehan sent an email to the campus community addressing the team’s statement on the principles of free expression.

“The statement of principles must balance individual freedom of expression with Washington College’s commitment ‘to a genuine sense of inclusion and belonging for all members of our community,’” Meehan said in his email.

Although the task force was not directly created in response to the student-led protest against speaker Robert George during the fall 2023 semester, many students believe this to be the case.

It is important for students to treat campus visitors with respect and dignity, but it is equally as important for them to safeguard and advocate for their own beliefs and values.

For example, many students said that George’s homophobic and transphobic statements were harmful to their identities, which led to the protest.

Following the protest, President Mike Sosulski sent a school-wide email, stressing the importance of not “insulat[ing] ourselves from differing viewpoints.”

The language used in Sosulski’s 2023 email is reminscent of the new task force’s statement: “we must be prepared to explore discomfort.”

While the new draft adheres to many of WC’s prior ideals, it is still a response, which alone means a lot to students.

As noted above, the Principles of Free Expression are not new policies or rules regulating or protecting speech and expression. 

However, they do state the values and principles that should guide expression on campus. They also incite further discussions between members of the community about College policies regulating student expression.

According to the statement, “When such encounters demean members of our community, deny their dignity, or threaten their safety, they are not consistent with our values.”

This indirect acknowledgement of students’ responses to the protest addresses George’s harmful beliefs, which reassures students that the speaker event was an isolated incident.

“I think it says a lot about our group and President Sosulski that a student was asked to serve as co-chair. I don’t take that responsibility lightly and have tried my best, along with our other student representative, to bring as much student feedback and opinions to this document as possible,” senior student co-chair of the task force Stephen Hook said.

 Considering the incendiary nature of the issue, it is understandable that WC students should hold widely differing opinions when it comes to the rights they believe they should have regarding their own expression.

“We as a college are very big on people speaking their minds. But they do not realize [that those words] have consequences…there are people that intend to disrespect people because of their [identities] and beliefs, and they need to be reprimanded,” senior Asia Elliot said.

The new Task Force provides a basis for continued discussion of student rights on campus and supplies assurance to students worried about the infringement on their closely held beliefs and values. 

“This document is intended to be a culture-building resource that lays out what students, staff, and faculty are awarded at the College. As a liberal arts institution, it is our responsibility to expose our community to opinions they may not agree with in a constructive, educational way,” Hook said.

Hopefully, the statement will prevent future issues from arising during speaker events and student-led protests.

College students in general should feel comfortable expressing their beliefs on campus. The atmosphere last fall made students feel unheard, so the inclusion of the task force and the freedom of expression document sets guidelines that members of the campus community can turn to in the future.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Photo Caption: The Freedom of Expression Task Force discusses on-campus issues of freedom of speech and student-led protests.

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