Bok Was Right

To the Editors of The Crimson:

The Civil Liberties Union of Harvard would like to commend the recent decision of President Derek C. Bok to endorse and confirm the right of Harvard students to freedom of speech. The Crimson reported on March 13 that in a letter on "Freedom of Speech in the Harvard Community," President Bok states that, although he does not condone their actions, the University will take no action to remove the Confederate flags hung in windows by Bridget L. Kerrigan '91 and Timothy P. McCormack '91-'92.

"Although it is not clear to what extent the First Amendment is enforceable against private institutions, I have great difficulty understanding why a university such as Harvard should have less free speech than the surrounding society--or than a public university, for that matter. By the nature of their mission, all universities should be at least as concerned with protecting freedom of expression as the rest of society. Like the rest of society, we should also worry about who will draw the lines and how wisely they will be drawn if we begin to restrict the bounds of permissable speech," Bok stated.

CLUH points out that President Bok has established a very important precedent for the future of free speech at Harvard. Previously, the right of Harvard students to free expression has been nebulous, at best. The Free Speech Guidelines adopted by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on February 13 and May 15 of 1990 state only that "it is expected that when there is a need to weigh the right of freedom of expression against other rights, the balance will be struck after a careful review of all relevant facts and will be consistent with established First Amendment standards."

The Civil Liberties Union of Harvard has always been pleased by the fact that Harvard has never had a policy permitting disciplinary action against students who use controversial forms of speech. CLUH is further pleased by the decision of the Harvard administration to embrace students' right to free expression. We hope that in the future, no Harvard student will need to be apprehensive about expressing their beliefs and ideas, no matter how controversial they may be. Jol A. Silversmith '94   Assistant Director, CLUH