Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signs an executive order regarding free speech on a college campus

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order Tuesday asking the Board of Regents to make recommendations for improving free speech policies on the state’s college campuses.

“Students should be able to freely engage in discussions and talk about ideas and things that they believe in, because that’s how we grow,” Landry said at a news conference on the LSU campus. “This is how we are educated, not indoctrinated.”

“Unfortunately, what we have seen on college campuses across the country is, as I said, one voice seems to be silenced and another is shouting,” Landry said.

The executive order also covers aspects of a 2018 state law that requires colleges and universities to submit annual reports to the Legislature and the governor’s office “regarding any barriers or incidents to free speech that have occurred at the institution.” It also calls on the Board of Regents to work with schools to develop free speech policies.

Each school adopted a new free speech policy in 2018. Spokespeople for the Legislature, Landry and LSU have not yet responded to requests for comment on whether schools are submitting the required reports.

The order requires the Regents to make recommendations for improving these policies to ensure that public areas are accessible on an equal footing with traditional public forums and open on the same terms to those engaged in non-commercial expressive activities. It also encourages the Regents to make recommendations that ensure that traditional public forums, such as the LSU Free Speech Alley, are clearly identified and that policies for reporting bias or discrimination do not discipline conduct that falls outside the definition of discriminatory student-to-student harassment.

“We have bright young minds on college campuses,” said Chair of Regents Misti Cordell. “They have their own voice, values, morals and things they want to uphold. We must keep these voices strong because they will shape our future.”

Landry’s event was held in partnership with the LSU chapter of Turning Point USA, an ultraconservative student activist organization. The group is known for attracting controversial conservative figures to college campuses. Events organized by chapters across the country often attract counter-demonstrators, which has sometimes led to the cancellation of demonstrations for security reasons.

“For too long, university faculty and our colleagues have cultivated an atmosphere and environment that promotes one ideology and one set of values ​​as the only acceptable values,” Ethan Vogin, vice president of the LSU Turning Point Chapter, said in the news. conference.

While Landry and Vogin did not cite any specific ideology, their comments dovetail with common conservative concerns about liberal indoctrination on college campuses.

Landry was asked by a reporter whether his concerns about the dominance of ideology on college campuses conflicted with the law he championed, which requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in every elementary and secondary school classroom and at colleges.

“The Ten Commandments are the foundation on which Western civilization rests,” Landry said. “Denying this denies the existence of the freedoms you enjoy today.”

Many Louisiana campuses have failed annual free speech reviews conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), an organization that monitors free speech at colleges and universities. FIRE’s financial backers include the Koch brothers and conservative foundations, although most donors are individuals. The group describes the work as impartial.

Louisiana Tech and McNeese State were the only schools in Louisiana to receive a “green light” rating from FIRE, meaning they do not have any policies that seriously threaten free speech.

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This article originally appeared on the Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana Governor Signs Executive Order on Free Speech on College Campus