Utah governor and higher ed. board vow to protect free speech on campus after conservative events targeted

After several campus free speech incidents at the University of Utah involving conservative speakers, the state’s higher education board took action to ensure free speech is protected on public campuses.

In early November, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) hosted a screening of the Daily Caller’s documentary, Damaged: The Transing of America’s Kids, which was then shut down by police on campus after protestors packed themselves into the room where it was to be shown.

Then Thursday, when detransitioner Chloe Cole was scheduled to speak at another YAF event, professors canceled classes and hosted a “healing circle.”

The next day, the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) approved a resolution, “Establishing Expectations for Implementing Principles of Free Expression on Campus,” for public colleges and universities around the state.

“We fully support our Board of Higher Education’s action today,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox wrote on Instagram. “Under this new policy, Utah’s colleges and universities will remain fierce protectors of free expression and impartial arbiters of the marketplace of ideas.”

Directives in resolution include:

• “Maintain institutional neutrality,” 
• “Protect a speaker’s right to free expression at approved events or venues on campus,” 
• “Protect the safety of those participating in constitutionally protected speech on campus by working with security personnel and campus or local law enforcement,” 
• “Introduce campus communities to diverse viewpoints, including inviting speakers, sponsoring symposiums and lectures, or presenting other opportunities to hear differing perspectives and ideas,” 
• “Establish a program designed to educate new students about the institution’s role as the marketplace of ideas.” 

Public colleges and universities are expected to “submit their policies, procedures, and practices” to the board on or before June 1, 2024.  

“Free speech is fundamental to maintaining liberty, cultivating an informed citizenry, and ensuring accountable government. We must celebrate it, protect it, and foster it to ensure our nation remains vibrant, strong, and free,” Cox continued on Instagram.  

In May, the board also approved a resolution on freedom of expression, calling it “the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom,” quoting former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo.  

Utah also has passed several campus free speech bills throughout the years, including one designating all outdoor areas on campuses as free speech zones, and another aimed at balancing the harassment codes and free speech following the Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education standard of 1999.  

The Lion reached out to Young Americans for Freedom at the University of Utah and Utah College Republicans for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.