The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.
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SUMMER 2014 11 because he was publicly reading a book containing matter about the Ku Klux Klan (in fact, the book was about how the Klan was defeated by Notre Dame University). At Valdosta State University a year earlier, another student was expelled for protesting usage of $30 million in student fees to build an unnecessary parking garage. 3 Thankfully, these harsh rulings were overturned. However, the question remains why students continue to be penalized in such a manner when these punishments are clearly unconstitutional. The question can be answered in part by the fact that the writers of "speech codes" often rationalize their documents by saying that offensive or harmful speech is "harassment," something the Constitution strongly—albeit implicitly—condemns. Yet, repeatedly, university authorities are interpreting violations of "harassment" as transcendent and more grievously harmful than violations of basic First Amendment guarantees of free speech. To be sure, extreme speech can inflame or incite—as exhibited by the many orations of Patrick Henry. Yet, for this very reason, the Fathers intended that Americans of future generations err on the side of not proscribing any free expression. The Founding Fathers established a representative democracy to give voice to the will of the common citizen and to prevent abuse of power by any singular monarch or dictator. They recognized that such a government would not be a success unless all its citizens were able to let their voice be heard. As seen with the given cases, expressive freedom is not safe even today. If the American people will not hold to the Constitution and protect their rights, who will? Each citizen thus has a duty to put a stop to any exploitation or suppression of their freedom, even on a deceptively small forum as the university. When Patrick Henry spoke in that crowded sanctuary in 1775, his very understanding of the power of free speech had been tempered over years of intrusions upon the liberties of Virginians and Americans. Now we must take a principled stand, just as our Founders did over 238 years ago, to protect our unalienable rights in the face of new intrusions. We must rekindle the freedom to voice our ideas. Were Patrick Henry able to see what has become of the nation's centers for learning today—and how their dogged determination to suppress anything they deem unworthy for study is hurting their students—the very people that will lead this nation next—he would be appalled. He most certainly would speak his mind freely about such injustice. Works Cited Aron, Paul. We Hold These Truths. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, in association with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2008. Web. FIRE.org. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, 2013. Web. 2 December 2013. "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death." The University of Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma College of Law, 17 April 2012. Web. 4 December 2013. Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. Print. Krauthammer, Charles. Things That Matter. United States: Crown Forum, 2013. Print. Endnotes 1 See "Give Me Liberty" article for a transcript of Patrick Henry's full speech. 2 Kennedy's The American Pageant contains more information on the founding of the United States. 3 See FIRE.org for a full list of similar cases. I n front of another sold-out audience, winners received awards during Monday's Youth Awards Luncheon, emceed by the always entertaining T. Rex Legler. Eli Beil of North Carolina won the Americanism Poster Contest and William Porter Buxton of California won the brochure contest, which focused on Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox." Representing the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution was National President Betsy Ehmcke and Senior National President Billie Spence, who discussed the C.A.R.'s national project, which is to raise $20,000 for the Star-Spangled Flag House in Baltimore, to help restore the museum's 10 flags, and to cover the cost of a recognition marker for the NSC.A.R. on the Flag House grounds. The upcoming brochure and poster themes were announced. For the poster, there will be a dual theme—George Rogers Clark or Lexington and Concord. For the brochure, the theme is founding documents of the United States. Doug Logan, a high school history teacher in Hebron, Ky., was named as the winner of the Tom & Betty Lawrence American History Teacher Award. Above, participants in the Youth Awards Luncheon included, from left, Congress Chairman Paul Callanan, JROTC winner Cameron A. Hoover (California), Hans Jackson, Eagle Scout Scholar Samuel P. Donovan (Missouri), Rumbaugh Oration winner Hayley Caroline Snowden (Virginia), William Broadus, Knight Essay winner Elizabeth Lilly (Virginia), Michael J. Elston, President General Joseph W. Dooley; left, William Porter Buxton of California won the inaugural Sgt. Moses Adams Memorial Middle School Brochure Contest. Youth Awards Luncheon