And we will protect all members of the campus community and our invited guests and speakers from any effort to silence them.Īt the same time, because no one has the right to be free from criticism, we will always ensure that members of the campus community can peacefully protest and express condemnation of views with which they disagree. We will not fire employees or discipline students simply because they express unpopular viewpoints. The University cannot and will not censor speech or punish people merely because they express ideas we do not like or with which we disagree. We will not deny speakers access to our campus venues because of their viewpoints. The principles of freedom of expression exist to prevent censorship of views that may be considered wrong or controversial, and even hateful to some. This cannot happen if the campus community is protected from ideas and opinions that some may find unwelcome, or if we silence speakers with whom we disagree. La Follette.Universities serve an important role as places where knowledge is created and shared, and students develop their independent thoughts and judgement. Forty years later, when the Senate named five of its most outstanding former members, the honored group included Robert M. Although this three-hour address won him many admirers, it also launched a Senate investigation into possible treasonable conduct.Įarly in 1919, as the end of hostilities calmed the heightened wartime emotions, the Senate dismissed the pending expulsion resolutions and paid La Follette's legal expenses. On October 6, 1917, in response to these charges, La Follette delivered the most famous address of his Senate career- a classic defense of the right to free speech in times of war. In the Senate, members introduced resolutions of expulsion. His state legislature condemned him for treason. involvement, a Senate colleague called him "a pusillanimous, degenerate coward."įollowing a September 20 speech, delivered extemporaneously in Minnesota, a hostile press misquoted La Follette as supporting Germany's sinking of the Lusitania. As he continued to speak out against U.S. Weeks later, only six senators, including La Follette, voted against the declaration of war. He then blocked a series of unanimous consent agreements to take up the bill, which died at noon with the 64th Congress. While La Follette dared anyone to carry him off the floor, the Senate ordered him to take his seat. Lane quickly decided that if James reached for the weapon, he would remove from his pocket a heavy steel file and plunge its sharp point into James' neck. While Democrats swarmed around the furious senator to prevent him from hurling a brass spittoon at the presiding officer, Oregon senator Harry Lane spotted a pistol under the coat of Kentucky senator Ollie James. The Wisconsin insurgent erupted with white-hot rage and screamed for recognition. When La Follette rose to deliver the concluding remarks, the presiding officer recognized only those who opposed the filibuster. Seeing passage of this measure as taking the nation closer to intervening in World War I, La Follette sought a national referendum to demonstrate his belief that most Americans opposed that course.Ī dozen senators who agreed with La Follette’s tactic spoke around the clock until 9:30 on the morning of March 4. At issue was whether the Senate would pass House-approved legislation to arm merchant ships against a renewed campaign of German submarine attacks. With only 26 hours remaining in the life of the 64th Congress on March 3, 1917, Progressive Republican senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin launched a filibuster.
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