Florida Tech's The Crimson to Host Free Speech Day
MELBOURNE, Florida—The Crimson, Florida Institute of
Technology’s student-run newspaper, will host the second annual First
Amendment celebration on campus. Called “Live Free or Eat Free,” the
event is February 27, 2013.
“Live Free or Eat Free” will include two parts. The first, 9 to 10:30
a.m. in the Hartley Room, is a panel discussion with Matt Reed,
Florida Today public interest editor; Melbourne attorney Jack
Kirschenbaum, who represents a newspaper and a news division of a TV
station; and Dan Sweeney, the advisor to Florida Atlantic University’s
student newspaper. Michael Kahn, who teaches a
constitutional law course in the pre-law program at Florida Tech, will
moderate the panel.
The second part takes place 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on the Crawford
Building green, next to University Boulevard. Students will get to
experience life without the First Amendment. They will receive a free
meal in exchange for their First Amendment rights. Students
won't be able to ask for which type of food they get. They won't be
able to sit with their friends, talk about their favorite topics, or
practice their religion. If the “government” passes an unjust law,
students have no right to petition.
After their experience of free speech suppression, students will be
able to express themselves on a free speech wall set up nearby by
The Crimson staff.
What should become clear is that without the First Amendment, none of
the other freedoms guaranteed in the U.S. constitution would stand.
“This event is a chance for our students to be reminded of the most
basic freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment—freedoms that are easy
to take for granted,” said Ted Petersen, a communication professor and
adviser to
The Crimson. “And this is a great opportunity for the journalists at
The Crimson to remind their fellow students that are truly involved
with a free press, with no editorial oversight from faculty, staff,
administration or trustees.”
The event is sponsored by Florida Today, Old School Pizza, the
Society of Professional Journalists, and the Florida Tech Department of
Humanities and Communication.
For more information, contact Ted Petersen at (321) 674-7201 or
[email protected] or Drew Lacy, editor in chief of The Crimson
at [email protected]. The First Amendment celebration is free and open to the public.