Many students nowadays see a college or university as a place where you can acquire higher education and also a place where you can go to be exposed to and taste the real world. Such an experience would include exposure to different kinds of people, areas of knowledge, and many different ideas and beliefs. But most colleges and universities nowadays fall into a trap of denial and control, thus preventing the students in their exchange of ideas. Since the First Amendment protects Freedom of Speech, colleges and universities should not ban or control it since it is another avenue of learning.
             Where do you draw the line when it comes to free speech? As long as you don't inflict any physical harm to another person, you should be able to freely speak your mind. Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University from 1971 to 1991 states, "It would be better to ignore them, since students would then have little reason to create such displays and would soon abandon them." (Bok 52) I disagree with him wholeheartedly. I say this because you cannot simply ignore a problem and hope that it will go away. You have to hear it over and over again in order to come up with a solution to the problem, solve it, and then deal with it. That is why I agree with Nat Hentoff when he says that people need to hear it in order to cope with it and I am a living proof of what he is talking about. (Hentoff n.p) When I was growing up, it was pretty difficult for me to deal with the fact that I am half European-American and half Hawaiian. I was not born with blond hair and blue eyes. Instead, I was born with brown hair, brown eyes, and a much darker skin color than of my father's. Racial slurs and insults were directed at me everywhere I went and there was no escape. Although my father and grandparents were all brunettes, I couldn't see past the insults I received whenever I walked down the street or was at school. I did exa...