Penn State Protects Individual Freedom

The administration of Penn State took hard steps recently to protect freedom of expression and to reinforce the understanding that college students are customers — not the children of school administrators.

Two individuals who are also Penn State students were photographed in Halloween costumes where they portrayed Virginia Tech students who had been murdered by Seung-Hui Cho.

The costumes were tasteless and offensive, especially considering how recent the murders were. However, the costumes are also protected speech under our cherished First Amendment.

Moreover, it is not an acceptable role for the college to “discipline” its customers for activities outside the scope of their education. The college is government-funded, it is not a free enterprise.

Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers stated that the students will not face school discipline because it would violate their free-speech rights.

The Penn State administration sent a formal letter of apology to the Virginia Tech school administration.

This type of mature, sensible, and forward-thinking behavior is unfortunately rare at our nations colleges. We applaud the administration of Penn State for making the right decisions under pressure.