UNI students missed lesson

There is a significant disconnect right now at the University of Northern Iowa.

We think of colleges and universities as places where people come together to learn, to discuss and deliberate ideas, and to strengthen their thinking skills.

But that has not occurred this month at Iowa’s third-largest university.

The UNI student government refused last week to grant official student organization status to a group of UNI students who want to establish a local chapter of Students for Life, a national organization that opposes abortion. 

The student-run judicial system upheld that “no” decision.

The rationale by Northern Iowa Student Government and by the student court goes to the heart of the disappointing situation that exists at UNI and at too many other public colleges and universities these days.

Student senators who voted against the Students for Life request did so for a variety of reasons — and none of those reasons are adequate justification for turning their backs on students whose views do not match the views of many other students.

Some senators were turned off by what they called the “hateful rhetoric” the national organization has used. Others objected to “troubling beliefs” of the national organization. Still others were bothered by the message student senators would be sending to UNI students with a decision to grant official status to Students for Life.

There is much more at stake in this dispute than simply being able to call itself an official student organization. Official status would allow the group to apply for student fee money. The group would be able to post notices on campus bulletin boards, obtain low-cost copying services and use of campus rooms for group meetings and events.

The organization’s constitution states, “Members seek to promote respect for life at UNI and in a local, state and national level, to educate on life issues, to help those in need so that life is a promising choice, and to work with others who share common goals.”

Northern Iowa Student Government is supposed to register “any student organization formed in good faith for a lawful purpose,” according to university policies. 

There already are scores of registered student organizations on the Cedar Falls campus, ranging from the Deaf Cultural Experience to the Trombone Society. There also are groups called Panthers for Pete, UNI for Bernie, Young Democratic Socialists of America and UNI Proud, a group for LGBTQ students.

But the student court ruled last week that the decision denying official status to Students for Life was correct, because that group “has the potential to create a hostile environment on the university campus” by violating a UNI policy that prohibits “discriminatory harassment.”

The court’s decision said Students for Life is “lacking in evidence of being an equitable, just, and welcoming student organization for our students and community.”

The future of the group is still up in the air, however. Organizers have asked UNI President Mark Nook to intercede on their behalf. The school issued a statement expressing UNI’s commitment to students’ First Amendment rights.

The First Amendment protects free speech at public colleges and universities, no matter how offensive the content of that speech might be to some people. There’s no place for government censorship.

And free speech does not exist just for content we agree with.