Bill protecting free speech on college campuses heads to Governor Stitt's desk
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Free speech was on the agenda at the Capitol, and state lawmakers are making sure college students have the protections to voice their opinions.
The sponsor of HB 3543, Rep. Chad Caldwell, (R)-Enid, said the goal is to protect students who may not have the same viewpoints as their classmates and professors.
"We shouldn't have a professor worried about getting fired if they say this or that," Rep. Caldwell said. "We shouldn't have a student that has to worry about, if I don't take a Republican view or a liberal view that I'm going to get an 'F' on a paper. That shouldn't be something that's going on at any of our colleges or universities."
That's Rep. Caldwell's reasoning for authoring the bill, but is that issue happening in our state universities?
"My guess is there's always free speech issues," Rep. Caldwell said. "I don't know if there's any one particular thing. When I talked about it on the floor, this isn't meant to address a specific issue. It's more of an understanding of just some general concerns, mainly that our colleges and universities are prepared to protect the rights and the free speech rights for all our faculty and staff."
The bill creates a free speech committee within the State Board of Regents that would review free speech policies, hear complaints, and require training for deans and heads of departments at public universities.
It isn't set in stone who or how many people will be on the committee, a fact thatSenator Jo Anna Dossett, (D)- Tulsa, questioned.
"Does the bill guide us or direct us in what the qualifications will be of the members on this new committee?" Sen. Dossett said.
Senator Julie Daniels, (R)- Bartlesville is the co-sponsor of the legislation. She responded that there isn't a direct answer on this currently.
"There's no mandate on this," Sen. Daniels said. "It will be up to higher education to determine who should be on the committee."
Rep. Caldwell said the bill isn't meant to suppress any topic, but rather open conversation.
"We have to really make sure to protect the free speech for those that we disagree with," Rep. Caldwell said.
Something else to note is all four Democrats who voted against the bill only a few weeks ago in the Senate Education Committee flipped their votes and voted for it on Monday.
The bill now heads to Governor Stitt's desk for his signature.
For more local news delivered straight to your inbox sign up for our daily newsletter by clicking here.