Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this column are the columnist’s own. They are not representative of The Daily Collegian or its board of editors. Last week taught Penn State students one thing: the university hides behind its policies as an excuse to censor student-run events and media, particularly regarding the 2024 election.
On Wednesday and Thursday, two separate examples of censorship occurred on campus: Charlie Kirk’s "You're Being Brainwashed Tour” hosted by the Penn State chapter of Turning Point USA , and the complete, though temporary, removal of The Daily Collegian’s indoor newsstands from campus . Both events were censored based on university policies, though the circumstances of each example significantly differed. Turning Point USA’s use of electronic audio equipment violated one of the university's policies.
According to Policy AD 51, “use of sound amplification equipment is generally prohibited between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.
m.” The university said it reminded Turning Point USA’s student leaders of this limitation before their event. However, The Daily Collegian did not receive similar notice.
Although conversations between the university and the paper occurred, Collegian leadership received no warning before the university removed 35 on-campus newsstands — three of which ran a Kamala Harris advertisement and six ran voter registration ads in the stand’s poster space. The university said the use of poster space violated AD27 Commercial Sales Activities at University Locations and AD02 Non-University Groups Using University Facilities. Empty space stands where The Daily Collegian's newsstand used to be in the Willard Building on Thursday, Sept.
19, 2024 in University Park, Pa. The university removed all of The Daily Collegian's indoor newsstands from the University Park campus. AD27 Commercial Sales Activities at University Locations states “no commercial poster, handbill, or any other form of commercial announcement or statement can be distributed on campus, be placed on, attached to, or written on any structure or natural feature of the campus.
” AD02 Non-University Groups Using University Facilities states “the use of the (university) facility must be for noncommercial purposes.” I find it hard to believe that the liberal messaging of the ads didn’t play a role — especially with the university’s decision coming hours before the cancellation of Kirk’s event. The Collegian ran these ads for weeks without a problem from the university and coincidentally received notice of the policy violation two days before Kirk’s event.
As if it never planned to let Kirk speak in the first place, the university shut down his event based on a technicality. It then seemingly used the Collegian as a sacrificial lamb to quash claims of bias. By removing the Harris ads, the university can appear more neutral, rather than appearing liberally biased due to censoring a right-wing speaker.
A student chants to the crowd at Charlie Kirk's "You're Being Brainwashed" Tour on the HUB lawn on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 in University Park, Pa. While most likely to avoid legal action related to freedom of speech, which Kirk has threatened in the past, the university knew the risk such speakers pose to its students — exemplified by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes’ appearance in 2022.
Weeks leading up to Kirk’s appearance on campus, students received emails from the university regarding its promotion and protection of free speech, which includes “viewpoints that offend our institutional values and personal sensibilities,” according to President Neeli Bendapudi in a video attached to the email. Bendapudi argues that this protection of free speech will create an environment where students will “encounter a broad spectrum of ideas that stimulate critical thinking.” While I agree with this belief, Bendapudi fails to acknowledge the inevitable protection of hate speech — the reason some students protest these speakers in the first place.
Kirk and similar speakers hide hate speech behind out-of-context “facts,” flimsy logic and threats of censorship — often to turn a profit. As the founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, Kirk and TPUSA made roughly $81.7 million in 2023, according to ProPublica, to spread the following information.
The crowd of students surrounds Charlie Kirk during his appearance on HUB lawn for the “You’re Being Brainwashed Tour” on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 in University Park, Pa. Charlie Kirk is an American conservative political activist.
Kirk often makes transphobic claims and uses the 13/50 argument — a misleading statistic used to villainize Black communities and establish a biological predisposition to committing crimes. These examples only scratch the surface of Kirk’s propaganda, which extends to criticisms of reproductive justice and higher education. Censoring the Collegian and Kirk within 24 hours of each other fundamentally holds each to the same standard when that shouldn’t be the case.
The Collegian used its platform and advertising real estate to make up a funding deficit perpetuated by the university’s decision to cut the paper’s funding. Kirk makes his living “debating” college students with his bigoted arguments that target marginalized communities — ones that exist at Penn State. In a heavy-handed attempt to cover its bases, Penn State censored the Collegian in a way that should be reserved for hateful individuals like Kirk.
While I understand the First Amendment ties Penn State’s hands, I stand by my claim that these hateful individuals have no place on campus, nor should they garner blind support from students drawn in by the spectacle. The audio equipment of Charlie Kirk’s appearance on HUB lawn during the “You’re Being Brainwashed Tour” is seen on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 in University Park, Pa.
The speakers of the event were turned off shortly after Kirk took the stage. Instead of punishing student journalists — who have received enough unwarranted setbacks already — Penn State should protect its student body and restrict hate speech on campus. Treating all political arguments the same fundamentally invalidates those that aren’t based on hate.
The university’s actions Wednesday night essentially equate the Collegian to political entities like Kirk. The Collegian received funding to run the Harris-Walz and voter registration ads and never endorsed the democratic candidates. However, Kirk blatantly endorses Trump.
The temporary removal from campus misconstrues the Collegian as a liberal outlet, impacting its neutrality and by extension, ability to exist. Once again, Penn State used its independent student-run newspaper as a failsafe. While the university may have helped censor hate speech on campus, such a move should not require justification further than the protection of students.
MORE COLUMNS Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this column are the columnist’s own. They are not representative of The Daily Collegian or its board of editors..
