Gee, maybe the conservative argument for free speech on campus is not in good faith. State officials who were just last year used free speech as an excuse to curb student protest are now reprimanding a Chancellor because they disliked his speaker 1/ eu.jsonline.com/story/news/edu…
Background: last year, after conservative speaker Ben Shapiro was interrupted, the UW Regents passed new rules that mandated suspension or suspension for students who materially disrupted others speech through protest. 2/ wisconsin.edu/regents/downlo…
That new policy included some pretty principled language, but the intended effect was to prevent the so-called hecklers veto by clearly telling students they would face severe consequences if they crossed some pretty ambiguous line. 3/ pbs.org/newshour/natio…
This year the Chancellor at UW La Crosse invited Nina Hartley, a 59 year-old adult entertainer and activist to speak on campus. People were unhappy, and the Chancellor paid for her fee out of his own pocket. 4/
But the same people who were championing free speech the year before suddenly had some very strong opinions about who should be allowed on campus. UW System President Ray Cross laid out a series of punishments for Chancellor Gow, and this was not just a slap of the wrist 5/
The Chancellor got an official letter of reprimand, will be ineligible for pay raises, and - biggest deal - the UW System is going to audit how the Chancellor has used discretionary funds. In effect, they are going to look for something else they can use to can him. 6/ 
What is amazing how open the UW System President is about his reasoning: the Chancellor should have checked with him and the Board before inviting the speaker. His actions make it harder for the Board to get new funding (from a conservative legislature and donors). 7/
Cross's reasoning ("I'm punishing you because donors don't like your speaker") may seem reasonable, if brutally pragmatic, but what happened to the soaring rhetoric about free speech from just last year, when it was being use to penalize students? 8/
Another UW Regent, Bob Atwell, thought it would be a good idea to write an op-ed criticizing the Chancellor because of his ideological objections to the speaker. 9/
The same UW System Regent voted last year for a policy that promised the UW System should not "attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they, or others, find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive."
Why should anyone take Regent policy seriously? 10/
Why should anyone take Regent policy seriously? 10/
This pattern has been consistent in Wisconsin. A couple of years ago legislators who prided themselves on championing free speech and attacking safe spaces threatened to cut UW-Madison funding because they disagreed with a class 11/ nytimes.com/2017/01/09/opi…
I'm not even going to go into the irony that the deep moral objections UW Regents show about a porn star talking on campus does not seem to stop them from donating a lot of money to a political party whose leader has appeared in porn videos & slept with porn stars. 12/
I'm also not going to try to debate the merits of inviting Hartley, but simply note that she probably does not have terrorists who find inspiration in her opinions. Unlike Ben Shapiro, who the UW Regents upended their policy for. 13/
This case makes clear a double-standard for free speech on campus. Conservative state actors will go to the bat and upend state policy to protect conservative speech, but punish speech they disagree with. 14/ eu.jsonline.com/story/news/edu…
It also seems weird that the first amendment is directly about govt officials using their power to censor speech, and state officials actively punishing an employe because they disliked a speaker he chose seems pretty at odds with the spirit of the constitution 15/
The clear message to other Chancellors in Wisconsin is if they bring in controversial speakers that the conservative regents don't like, their careers can be derailed. That sure sounds like state censorship to me. 16/
Sorry for the long thread. H/T to @djvanness for pointing this out. Ping to people who might be interested @Lollardfish @TheFIREorg @AaronRHanlon Fin/
Late addition: the talk took place during FREE SPEECH WEEK. The UW System is formally disciplining a Chancellor because they dislike the speaker he invited during Free Speech Week. You cannot make this stuff up. apnews.com/ec595468d35042…
