Arkansas § 6-60-1002 - Legislative intent.

§ 6-60-1002. Legislative intent.

The General Assembly finds that: The First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Arkansas Constitution protect the rights of free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of association for all citizens; The United States Supreme Court has called public universities “peculiarly the marketplace of ideas”, Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 180 (1972), where young adults learn to exercise these constitutional rights necessary to participate in our system of government and to tolerate the exercise of those rights by others, and there is “no room for the view that … First Amendment protections should apply with less force on college campuses than in the community at large”, Healy, 408 U.S. at 180; The exercise of First Amendment rights on the campuses of state-supported institutions of higher education in this state is a critical component of the education experience for students and requires that each state-supported institution of higher education in this state ensure free, robust, and uninhibited debate and deliberation by students, whether on or off campus; State-supported institutions of higher education in this state and elsewhere should provide adequate safeguards for the First Amendment rights of their students to avoid a stifling of expression on campus; The United States Supreme Court has warned that if state-supported institutions of higher education stifle student speech and prevent the open exchange of ideas on campus, “our civilization will stagnate and die”, Sweezy vs. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 250 (1957); A significant amount of taxpayer dollars is appropriated to state-supported institutions of higher education each year, and the General Assembly must ensure that all state-supported institutions of higher education receiving state funds recognize freedom of speech as a fundamental right for all; and State-supported institutions of higher education should strive to ensure the fullest degree of intellectual and academic freedom and free expression, and it is not the proper role of state-supported institutions of higher education to shield individuals from speech that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, including without limitation ideas and opinions the individuals may find unwelcome, uncollegial, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.