I agree with David Bradshaw that the recently enacted Student Government campaign rules needlessly obstruct free speech. I write to encourage fellow students and the administration to oppose these unreasonable time constraints on a candidate’s ability to campaign for SG elections. The troubling restriction prohibits “any intentional action in support of … a candidate or party for an elective student body office and posting of election specific materials…” more than one week before the election.
Election-specific materials include speeches or websites soliciting support (“vote for me”) for a candidate or political party. The restrictions on website material are especially troubling given that the Internet has the characteristics of a traditional public forum where debate is accepted and expected.
Such a severe restriction limits the ability of students to introduce themselves as candidates in the election cycle to a very large and diverse Student Body — almost 50,000 students this fall. Although this restriction appears to be viewpoint-neutral, the actual effect may be to make it especially difficult for members of opposing parties to successfully elect their candidates.
Why have any restrictions on SG election campaigns? One author of the bill made the questionable claim that restricting campaigning to less than one week before elections will promote bipartisanship, because they will spend more time on their Senate duties.
Given the educational mission of UF as a whole, reasonable restrictions, such as a minimum GPA requirement, serve to protect the educational experience of SG and will be supported by law. Courts rightly grant great deference to university judgment on academic matters, but this does not mean universities always practice correct or consistent judgment.
Unfortunately for the defenders of restricting student speech, the new time restrictions on campaigning do not advance the educational interests of students at UF. These restrictions detract from the educational purpose of SG participation and are glaringly inconsistent with UF’s policies and practices regarding other activities.
UF recognizes the ability and educational value of letting students learn to manage time and distractions in other settings. We expect our student athletes to almost continually train and compete at the national level. Coach Will Muschamp would blanch at the idea that players could only begin conditioning and practicing for a specific position one week before the first game.
We also have a healthy Greek system, and the university maintains a website that lists the benefits to joining sororities and fraternities while acknowledging that the first semester “is the most time intensive because the new member goes through the chapter’s new member education/membership intake program.” The pleasant process, otherwise known as pledging, most assuredly lasts longer than one week and is time-consuming.
Those who defend student speech restrictions may also argue that allowing students to give speeches and distribute literature in support of particular candidates sooner than one week before elections will generate an excessive amount of electioneering communications.
This argument fails to acknowledge that UF students have always been expected to remain committed to their coursework amid a litany of campus speakers (including one very distracting Ron Jeremy), itinerant preachers, athletic events and conferences. Indeed, learning to manage schedules and the distractions of life are important aspects of higher education and becoming an adult.
It’s hard to imagine how allowing students to campaign for office more than seven days prior to an election will unduly disrupt the educational mission of UF. Restricting election-specific campaign activities to less than one week before elections may actually make matters worse — candidates and parties feverishly accost Turlington travelers and pass out election-specific materials during their allotted free speech time, knowing they only have one week to do so.
The UF Interfraternity Council writes on its website that “the more energy and time a member dedicates to his fraternity, the more that member gains from the experience.”
I agree.
The university administration and student government should extend this logic to the educational experiences of a candidate who wishes to campaign more than seven days before the election.
Excessive campaign restrictions diminish the number and quality of ideas generated by the Student Body — the most important educational mission of our university.
Greg Pavela is a sociology graduate student at UF. You can contact him at opinions@alligator.org.
