BRISTOL -- Is speech protected at any cost? When does provocative language cross the line into profanity?
These are the kinds of questions being bandied about at Roger Williams University, where a debate over free speech has pitted student conservatives against the president of the university.
The College Republicans, a campus group, have drawn support from national conservative organizations such as the Young America's Foundation, which sent out news releases this week accusing the university of silencing ideas that "oppose the leftist orthodoxy so prevalent on college campuses."
The flap began when the College Republicans published a series of articles and images in their newspaper, The Hawk's Right Eye, that accused "militant homosexuals" of trying to squelch free speech by pushing for hate-crime legislation. Another article, entitled "The Thought Police," asserted that a well-known gay-rights group indoctrinates students into homosexual sex.
The stories were accompanied by a brief article from WorldNet.Daily that describes, in sexually graphic language, the rape of a young man by an older man.
"Homophobic stories are always dwelt on," the article says, "but when homosexuals are the culprits, the news is swept under the rug."
The Republican group was responding in part to the campus appearance of Judy Shepard, mother of slain Wyoming homosexual Matthew Shepard, during freshman orientation this fall.
When university President Roy Nirschel saw the newspaper, he sent an e-mail to the entire campus on Oct. 9. In his letter, he said that the Republicans had crossed over the lines of propriety and respect.
"In the past, this organization has flirted with racist and anti-Islamic rhetoric," Nirschel wrote. "The most recent issue of their publication is pornographic in nature, puerile, mean-spirited and stereotypes gay individuals as child molesters, criminals or deviants.
"While we affirm the right of campus organizations to hold different points of view and to disagree," he said, "the university will not condone publications that create a hostile environment for our students. We are a university too busy to hate."
The administration temporarily froze funds for printing the student newsletter, but did not, as a national conservative group charged, pull funding for the College Republicans.
The controversy has launched Jason Mattera, the 20-year-old editor of the monthly newsletter, into the national spotlight. While in Washington, D.C., yesterday, Mattera spoke at a news conference on the Student Bill of Rights, which would require colleges to balance their so-called liberal bias in faculty hiring and promotions.
Yesterday, Mattera defended both the tone and content of his articles. While his comments were meant to be provocative, he said he never implied that all gays were pedophiles or criminals.
Campus conservatives, he said, are the true victims here, adding that Nirschel misused his authority by branding student conservatives as hateful and mean-spirited.
"I want a simple apology from him," Mattera said yesterday. "It's unacceptable for the president of the university to kowtow" to certain interest groups.
Those who characterize the paper's comments as hate speech are cowards, he said. If people are offended by his views, then they should fight back by writing their own polemic.
Provost Edward Kavanagh, a self-described conservative, denied that Roger Williams's actions are an attempt by a liberal university to suppress a contrarian point of view.
"Should we have a conservative publication? Absolutely," he said. "Should we have someone who takes unpopular points of view? Absolutely. But this is not gutter politics. It should be done with the decorum and ethical standards expected of a university."
Although the newsletter didn't spawn the protests that an ad by conservative columnist David Horowitz did at Brown University two years ago, a number of Roger Williams students said they felt personally attacked by Mattera's language, according to Kavanagh.
"I have been attacked by College Republicans," said Winter Lavier, who sits on the Student Senate with Mattera. "They called me a rabid jackal and a homosexualist. Attacking me personally is very unprofessional."
Lavier said one student group, Sexual Advocacy For Everyone, has filed a formal complaint with the Student Senate, arguing that the Republican newsletter targets homosexuals. And Lavier has sponsored a bill that would withdraw university funding from the College Republicans.
Lavier called some of the material in the newsletter pornographic because, she said, it contains sexually explicit material that has no social, political or moral value.
"We want to protect the student body from such a hostile paper," she said. "We don't feel we have to pay for their free-speech rights. They can pay for it themselves."
June Speakman, a political science professor and faculty adviser to the College Republicans, said she would like to see the students continue their work but only if they follow standards of civility and decency.
"I have had many conversations with Jason," she said. "I say, 'Why do you pursue these kinds of tactics?' But Jason thinks he has to work really hard to undo the damage that liberals like me have done. This is a movement for him, a cause."
Speakman has asked Mattera to provide proof that faculty members ignore minority viewpoints but said he hasn't come up with any evidence that students are being brainwashed by liberals.
Meanwhile, Kavanagh met with the five leaders of the College Republicans on Friday and told them that their funding would be restored as long as they allow their adviser to review their work before publication. While this has always been an informal policy, the university now says it's necessary to put it in writing. The guidelines will apply to all student publications.
Since Speakman plans to resign as the group's adviser, Kavanagh told students that they could pick from a list of five Republican faculty members. But Mattera said none of the candidates passes their ideological litmus test.
If the debate has produced anything positive, it's this: Kavanagh has asked the Student and Faculty Senates to set up formal standards on what constitutes a civil discussion.
This is not an easy task, he said. But, in some ways, it lies at the heart of what a liberal arts institution is all about.
Providence police weigh hate-crime prosecution of two men accused of raping a woman they accused of being a lesbian. B-2.
