Public Comment

The following statement of support from veterans of the 1964 Free Speech Movement was delivered to the occupation site on the steps of Sproul Hall on behalf of the Free Speech Movement Archives (www.fsm-a.org).

In the fall of 1964, the administration of the University of California at Berkeley, under external political pressure and spurred on by an administrator who was working with the FBI, attempted to ban political speech or activity on campus.

This resulted in a 3-month struggle, which gave birth to the Free Speech Movement, a successful campaign that organized the campus and culminated in massive peaceful civil disobedience, resulting in a complete victory for free speech rights.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed the depressing spectacle of university administrators at USC, Columbia, and NYU buckling under to external political pressure and attempting to silence voices demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and humanitarian aid for civilians. A valedictorian was prevented from addressing the graduating class, peaceful protests have faced mass arrests of students and faculty, faculty firings and student suspensions.

We urge these administrators to get off their knees, and stand up for free speech and academic freedom on the campuses it is their duty to lead and protect. Without the free exchange of ideas, there can be no learning, only indoctrination. The prohibition of ideas can only be for one reason; there is no way to rebut them with facts or logic. Invoking police power to close discussion is an admission of intellectual bankruptcy.

We applaud the development of a rapidly growing campus movement all over the country in solidarity with USC, Columbia and NYU. Free speech must be defended, now as it was in our time.

Free Speech Movement Archives Board

Jack Radey, President; Anita Medal, Treasurer; Bettina Aptheker; Robert Cohen; Susan Druding; Lee Felsenstein; Barbara Garson; Jackie Goldberg; Steve Lustig: Lynne Hollander Savio; Gar Smith; Barbara Stack 

60 Years Later, Freedom of Speech Still Eludes College Students 

An Ethnic Media Services article based on an interview with Lynne Hollander Savio is available at this link. 

Lynne Hollander Savio on the FSM 

Ethnic Media Services