Students may be poised to lose another of many already regulated “rights” belonging U.S. citizens following racist remarks against President Obama in the Freedom of Expression tunnel at NC State University.

UNC System President Erskine Bowles is expecting recommendations from an appointed board on “hate speech” regulation across the UNC System. “Hate Speech” is yet undefined by the Commission. If adopted, this will be one of many restrictions that pledge to protect students while stripping their unalienable rights.

Hate Speech Protection
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is the second-most diverse university on the East coast, making it a prime location for a hate-speech policy.

Robert Canida, director for the Minority and Multicultural Affairs at UNC-Pembroke, interprets the First Amendment as the ability “to express yourself without any backlash, ramifications or penalties pressed upon you.” One’s rights should not be infringed upon, he said.

“I’m all for freedom of expression, but at some point, freedom of expression can bleed into hate,” he said. Canida believes that regulations on speech and disrespect of a person or group are necessary in a college environment.

Canida defines disrespect as “attacking [someone] physically, verbally, mentally emotionally, placing someone on a guilt trip for their values or lifestyle, or making them feel less than human.”

The Tomahawk Chop, performed at football games in spirit of Native American heritage, has been an area of contention among the Indians, Canida said. Such actions should cease due to their perceived disrespectful nature.

“Anything that makes a group feel uncomfortable [shouldn’t occur],” he said. “[Saying] things like I hate gay people is wrong. Gay people are weird is okay.”

Policies Disregard Law
University Counsel Joshua Malcolm acknowledges the caution that must exist when discussing rights of students on a campus.

“Many campuses disregard state and federal law when creating policies,” he said.

He mentioned that UNC Greensboro and East Carolina University did not consult the state in their decisions to add homosexuality in their non-discrimination clause (North Carolina does not recognize homosexuals under the non-discrimination clause).

“I think that it has been very difficult to craft hate speech codes that are not unconstitutional,” said senior staff attorney for the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law Jason Kay to the Daily Tarheel. “The speech codes must either be so specific as to identify specific words … or they’re so broad that no one knows what they mean.”

University policies often use language that is overly broad. Words like unsatisfactory, “fighting words”, and disrespect, when not provided with specific definitions, can have various interpretations.

While the Commission has released no word on sanctions for those breaking the Hate Speech Policy, Canida said he would like to see diversity education involved.