Free Speech Area product of the 1960s

By Kristen Hoverman
The Collegian

Free speech activity at Fresno State and the University of California at Berkeley is tame when compared with the days of the early ‘60s, the student leadership and activities advisor at Fresno State said.

“The activism, we just don’t see it anymore,” Student Leadership and Activities Advisor Gary Nelson said.

“Most of the speakers say what they have to say and not a lot of people counter them. People listen to what they have to say and move on,” he said.

Even at UC Berkeley, often described as the center of dissent, free speech activity today can’t compare with the movement in the ‘60s, Berkeley professor Judson King said.

King, the former UC System-wide provost and senior vice president, has taught at Berkeley since 1963.

King said the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley created the outgrowth for free speech at universities around the United States. The movement began in 1964, King said, when Berkeley student Mario Savio and a group of fellow students began to questioning authority in general, King said.

“The Free Speech Movement was formed with a mission for the designation of a permanent free speech area. As a result of the movement students were allowed to set up tables on designated places on campus, King said. “It got a lot of publicity and that’s how the ideas spread.”

“Berkeley still has free speech areas, such as the Free Speech Café and a Free Speech Memorial.

However, the café is restricted and the memorial is really just a work of art,” King said.

While free speech is not regulated, other things are.

“The time, place, and manner of speech are what the university can regulate,” King said. “Emphasis on regulate.”

Fresno State has also experienced free speech activity. In the 1970s the Chicano Students Movement spread across the nation, said Intercultural Communications Professor Shane Moreman.

“It was really alive here,” he said.

Originally speakers stood on a wooden platform where the cement speaker’s platform stands today, Nelson said.

“The wood deteriorated and it became unsafe to use. For a couple years I worked to get a new platform there,” he said. Nelson said the platform cost in the ballpark of $65,000 and was dedicated in 2002.

Nelson said students are using the platform less now.

“It’s mostly used for celebration type things, required speeches by students, and during times of political elections,” Nelson said. “Mostly when people are celebrating or commemorating.”

The Free Speech Area on campus is centrally located.

“Right on the edge of the Peace Garden, It’s beautifully located for people to get ideas out,” Moreman said.
Nelson said the central location of the Free Speech Area allows for a larger audience.

“The area is the major source of food and activity on campus,” he said. “Having the Free Speech Area there, you’re going to have a natural audience.”

There are regulations regarding the use of the area by speakers. At this time no sound ordinance is enforced, but the use of sound amplification equipment is forbidden.

“We do have some problems with the Free Speech Area being where it is,” Nelson said. “It is close to classrooms and the library and faculty members have complained to us in the past about the noise.”

Other problems have also arisen in the Free Speech Area.

“Our biggest things have been with the preachers,” he said. “They generally draw an audience of students who either stop for entertainment, like to listen or want to argue with them.”

The boundaries of the Free Speech Area stretch from the north-east corner of the peace garden to the eastern edge of the Student Union and from the north-west edge of the library to the eastern edge of Round Table Pizza, is still important to Fresno State.

“The university is the place where people are learning new ideas,” Moreman said. “Free speech areas are a way for students to voice their opinions to a large audience.”

As a semester end requirement, students in Communication Professor Doug Fraleigh’s Advanced Public Speaking class give a speech in the Free Speech Area.

“A university is one of those places that provide the opportunity to figure out what you are and where you’re going,” Fraleigh said.

The Free Speech Area is available at all times to students. According to university policy, outside visitors must get a permit and reserve the area through the Students Activities Office in the University Student Union.

It is also possible for orators to reserve the Speaker’s Platform on the southeast end of the Peace Garden for their exclusive use.

“It’s on a first-come, first-serve basis,” Fraleigh said. “As long as it truly is first-come first-serve and no one is denied the policy is fair.”

All Fresno State student groups, clubs, and recognized organizations shall continue to have free access to the Free Speech Area, subject to the time, place and manner regulations managed by the Student Activities Office.

“They have their own freedom of speech,” Nelson said. “They can share that how they wish.”

Students are not restricted to speaking in the defined Free Speech Area at Fresno State.

“I think that the Free Speech Area promotes responsible speech,” Moreman said. “If you only have that opportunity, you really have to think about what you’re going to say.

To capture attention speakers have to say something shocking or use a quick sound-bite, Moreman said. “They’re tailoring their speech to an audience.”

Fraleigh agrees.

“Generally speaking when a university sets aside at least one area dedicated to free speech, it doesn’t mean that the rest of campus isn’t a free speech area,” he said. “Setting aside a particular area guarantees that there’s a spot on campus where voices can be heard and ideas can be shared.”

Comment on this story in the News forum >>