New York Daily News: Free speech sacred – as long as you’re a liberal?
In a chaotic brawl, Columbia student protesters stormed the stage at Lerner Hall on Oct. 4 to stop a speech by Jim Gilchrist, head of the anti-illegal immigration Minuteman Project.
But less-publicized assaults on free speech also mar campus life, students say. In one incident, a Columbia senior and Marine reservist was heckled and branded a “baby killer” by anti-war activists because of his outspoken pro-war views.
Matt Sanchez, 35, who returned to Columbia to complete his education, said he was angrily confronted late last year by three students at a table set up by the Military Society, a student club, in front of Low Library. “Columbia says it cherishes free speech, diversity and tolerance,” Sanchez said. “But they don’t live up to their own values when it comes to members of the military or others they disagree with.”
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