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SUNY Brockport betrays First Amendment obligations, defunds controversial speaker

Hartwell Hall at SUNY Brockport

SUNY Brockport has defunded a speaking appearance by Jalil Muntaqim. (Matthew Yeoman Wikipedia.org)

Following heated backlash from elected officials and the public, SUNY Brockport defunded an appearance by Jalil Muntaqim, a faculty-invited speaker, though the event will continue.

Today, FIREwrote to SUNY Brockport explaining that this viewpoint-based revocation of funding violates the university鈥檚 First Amendment obligations.

Muntaqim, a former Black Panther convicted of killing two police officers in the 1970s, is slated to speak on April 6 about his time 鈥渟erving nearly 50 years as a political prisoner,鈥 according to the event description.

After the public urged the university to disinvite Muntaqim, SUNY Brockport President Heidi Macpherson released a on Tuesday affirming faculty academic freedom rights and acknowledging the university鈥檚 role in hosting controversial speakers and uncomfortable conversations. 

However, just a day later, Chief Diversity Officer Damita Davis that the Promoting Excellence in Diversity Grant Committee, the university-funded committee that originally approved the grant to fund Muntaqim鈥檚 speaking appearance, would rescind that approval.

Some may think SUNY Brockport鈥檚 defunding of the controversial event allows it to revoke its support of the event without canceling it and violating its obligations under the First Amendment. Those people are wrong.

FIRE wrote SUNY Brockport today to explain that defunding a faculty-invited speaker鈥檚 appearance based upon viewpoint violates faculty academic freedom rights, which the First Amendment protects.

As we said in our letter:

As a public university, SUNY Brockport is bound by the First Amendment, which prohibits the institution from defunding speaking appearances based on the speaker鈥檚 viewpoint or criminal past. Even more to the point, the Supreme Court has directly upheld the rights of students and faculty to hear鈥攊n person鈥攆rom speakers with criminal ties. In Kleindienst v. Mandel, the Court said with respect to a foreign academic with alleged Communist ties, that it was 鈥渓oath鈥 to hold that the ability of students and faculty to hear from the speaker by telephone was sufficient to override their interest in the 鈥減articular form of access鈥 to face-to-face discussions. Defunding Muntaqim鈥檚 talk sharply increases the risk SUNY Brockport students and faculty will not get to hear from him, face-to-face.

As you have correctly recognized, faculty enjoy the right to academic freedom鈥攚hich the Supreme Court has labeled as of 鈥渟pecial concern to the First Amendment.鈥 The American Association of University Professors has likewise said that 鈥渢he freedom to hear is an essential condition of a university community and an inseparable part of academic freedom,鈥 and 鈥渢he right to examine issues and seek truth is prejudiced to the extent that the university is open to some but not to others whom members of the university also judge desirable to hear.鈥

Here, the timing of the PED Grant Committee鈥檚 repeal of funding for Muntaqim鈥檚 speaking appearance鈥攃oming within hours of strong and increasing objections from the public about Muntaqim鈥攁ppears to be impermissibly viewpoint- and/or speaker-based.

Some may argue the event was defunded due to Muntaqim鈥檚 past conduct, not his speech. However, when punishment of speech is based on a speaker鈥檚 past conduct and/or what that portends for what they will say, as appears to be the case here, it indicates that the punitive measure 鈥 rescinding the grant 鈥 is speaker- and/or viewpoint-based. This, in and of itself, is problematic and unconstitutional. 

We urge SUNY Brockport not to just say the right thing, but also to do the right thing

We explained to SUNY Brockport that had Muntaqim been invited by the PED Grant Committee, the committee could disinvite him or defund his appearance. However, given that Muntaqim was invited by a faculty member, defunding his appearance infringes faculty academic freedom rights.

As we said in our letter:

Universities must be places where students and faculty can discuss鈥攁nd hear from鈥攑eople whose acts or views may be controversial or unlawful. And students and faculty must remain free to invite speakers, whether they agree with them or not, without fear of censorship or punishment by an administrator, bureaucrat, or politician. The First Amendment extends a right not only to speak, but also to hear or receive information, and these rights make no exception for people who have engaged in misdeeds, criminal activity, or membership in blacklisted organizations. As a public institution, SUNY Brockport鈥檚 allegiances must lie with the First Amendment rather than with detractors who would see those rights infringed.

We urge SUNY Brockport not to just say the right thing, but also to do the right thing by defending academic freedom and restoring the funding of Muntaqim鈥檚 speaking appearance.

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