Stop Whispering

A monument in tribute to free speech week stood in the parking lot of our school from Oct. 19 through Oct. 23. The writing on the wall said many things throughout the week. Arguably the most important fact about the monument consisted of the fact that someone wrote on the wall every day.

Connie Jorgensen, assistant professor of political science, explained how the mobile monument idea started in an email exchange. “The Executive Director of the Charlottesville- based Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Josh Wheeler and I were having coffee one day about a different topic and the idea of having the Mobile Monument on campus came up, and we started making plans,” she said. Jorgensen explained that donations to the Thomas Jefferson Center funded the monument, costing the school nothing. Our freedom was free.

Students wrote on the outside of the monument. On the inside, posters stating various statistics on the first amendment hung on the walls. One poster contained a startling fact. The poster explained the various rights granted by the first amendment.

Sadly, awareness of one right in particular appeared far lower than the other rights, that of the people to petition the government. According to a poster inside the monument, the right to petition is the least understood aspect of our first amendment rights.

When asked about the right of the people to petition, Jorgensen said, “Individuals can make change – I’ve seen it. Unfortunately, because of apathy, a feeling of impotence, laziness, or some other reason, too many Americans don’t take advantage of our rights.” This harsh truth does not apply to the whole of America.

One website in particular, change.org, makes starting petitions easier than ever. The sign-up process on the site consists of entering one’s name, an email address and a password. During free speech week, students could see this process in action simply by walking past the student center where several students petitioned for the naming of a state rock in Virginia.

For information on what qualifies as a violation of first amendment rights, tjcenter.org has an entertaining awards section called The Jefferson Muzzles. The Thomas Jefferson Center hands out these awards each year to those who have violated the first amendment rights of citizens. Sadly, not every tyrant wins an award, but the site does explain why: there are too many of them.

Though many dare to infringe upon our rights, Jorgensen stated that she believed our leaders hear us, but because of problems with the system, our voices are not as loud. One solution to this dilemma is for citizens to speak up more often. The first amendment grants citizens freedom of speech on a daily basis. Americans can speak just as loudly any day of the year.