By Hussein Ali Rifath
As a part of Adelphi University’s second annual Freedom of Expression Week Symposium, the Garden City campus held a series of events last month highlighting the important role that free speech and diversity of thought play in both our university setting and greater American society. These events, which came just two weeks before Election Day, invited students, faculty and staff to participate in discussions that addressed this topic from a variety of contexts, ranging from political science to journalism.
According to Joseph P. De Gearo, assistant vice president of student affairs and dean of students, he saw the value in establishing this annual campus tradition last year.
“I approached the vice president of student affairs [Sentwali Bakari] suggesting that the students on campus would benefit from taking a closer look at some of the issues that seemed to come up frequently,” DeGearo said. “And some of them included things like freedom of expression, although that's not always how it was referred to by the folks coming in. A lot of conflicts and interpersonal tensions [between students] were coming to our office revolving around positions that a student would take that challenged the worldview of someone else.”
He said that during a time of heightened emotions and political polarization, clashes arose within the student body on a variety of issues, including the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. DeGearo said he finds that promoting dialogue is the key to addressing this.
“A lot of students benefited from talking through those tensions with someone and, by the end, they were able to understand the difference between being threatened and feeling threatened,” he said.
This idea of coming to understand the different perspectives of others, rather than attacking them, was a recurring theme in events throughout the Symposium in October, which was hosted by faculty from various departments, the Student Government Association and the Division of Student Affairs.
Journalists’ Perspective
The “Person on the Street: Results and Analysis” event was held on October 22 in the
University Center, featuring staff from Adelphi’s student newspaper, The Delphian, including Joe D’Andrea, editor-in-chief; Hussein Ali Rifath, news editor; and Chala Civan, social media editor. Liza Burby, senior adjunct communications professor and the paper’s faculty advisor, moderated the discussion, where The Delphian staff discussed free speech from a journalistic perspective. They emphasized the difficulties they have experienced in finding Adelphi students who are willing to be interviewed on contemporary issues and quoted in the paper. They also presented the findings of a survey they conducted to investigate students’ willingness to share their opinions.
“Students who were interviewed by their peers reflected common themes: that differing opinions are good; that the country during the election season seemed to be close-minded, toxic and that people argued too much; but that at Adelphi students generally felt safe to express their opinions,” said Burby. “However, some students said they feared backlash for openly sharing opinions in their classes.”
The editors also spoke about their personal experiences with freedom of speech and expression. Civan discussed witnessing the erosion of freedom of expression in her native Turkey, where political speech is strictly controlled by the government. She offered a poignant reminder of how important and fragile such freedoms can be.
“For many times, most recently in the summer of 2024, the Turkish government banned Instagram for over eight days without any explanation before their actions, which resulted in many businesses having economic problems and lowered the country’s security and freedom index rankings,” Civan said.
Burby noted this at the end of the session, adding, “For those who feel uncomfortable being quoted in the school newspaper, this is a good reminder of the importance of having that choice with a free press.”
Free Speech Rights
Binda Godlove Aka, an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, participated in a panel on October 21 exploring the constitutional roots of the right to free speech and the vital role political speech plays in American democracy.
He related personally to the subject matter. “I think we in the United States enjoy a lot
when it comes to freedom of speech. Looking at my background and where I come from, our freedom of speech there is extremely very limited,” he said.
He added that the Freedom of Expression Week Symposium helped put the issue into perspective.
“We need more of such programs on campus because a program like that helps educate our community about issues beyond the United States,” he said. “During that program, we saw students from Jamaica, Lebanon and Norway giving different contextual perspectives about freedom of speech based on where they are coming from.”
The symposium culminated in a keynote address and question-and-answer session with Nadine Strossen, a leading advocate for free speech and civil liberties. She was the first woman to lead the American Civil Liberties Union and served from 1991 to 2008. Today, she serves as a senior fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and as a speaker for Voices for Liberty, two organizations committed to promoting these causes on college campuses across the nation.
Students Speak Out
In preparation for the Symposium, The Delphian editors asked students on campus a series of questions. For example, when asked about the current political atmosphere and whether she feels free enough to express her political views without backlash at Adelphi, Sara Held, a second-year political science major, said, “I think that the current political atmosphere at Adelphi is healthy and productive. I’ve taken part in so many illuminating conversations with both my peers and my professors. I feel that I can certainly share my political views on campus and may sometimes receive feedback from others, often leading to valuable conversations and dialogues.”
When asked the same question, second-year English major Cassidy Bedell said, “Personally, I feel as though it’s very mixed. While Adelphi is a very accepting university, not everyone is as accepting of political opinions that go against their own and tend to get very heated about it. While I do feel comfortable discussing it with my friends, there are times when I am extremely hesitant in fear of backlash.”
When asked how comfortable he is in sharing his personal views with The Delphian staff and readers, Charlie Casolaro, a senior political science major, said, “This campus is genuinely generally pretty accepting. I don't really talk politics too much, but that's just because I'm more of a reserved person; it's by choice. I think Adelphi is pretty good about that stuff. I don't think there's too much of an issue with it.”
Emily DiProperzio, a senior chemistry major, said, “The school's definitely good with what you could say; you can really get your message across in a safe way. But I feel like there's still a lot of arguments that happen when you really do try and speak up. It’s more so that other college students need to understand that not everyone's going to always agree with them and that it's okay for someone to voice their opinion. You don't have to attack them.”
Gary Solorzano-Ruiz, a senior art design and education major in the STEP program, said, “Because of how polarizing politics can be, I never like to share what I believe in. I prefer to just stay neutral and not go into the topic. I like to listen to what other people have to say because that’s how I grow as a person. I might not agree with what they say, but it can help me understand a different viewpoint that I never really considered.” Bedell shared an incident in which a student didn’t feel safe enough to share their views in the classroom. “There was a time where a friend of mine was in class when the topic of the upcoming [presidential] debate came up and while they were sharing their opinion, another student interjected and called her an idiot,” she said. “While the professor was quick to intervene before the other student got heated, my friend was still rattled about the whole ordeal.”
At the same time, students also expressed hope for the future. As Held said, “I am hopeful for the future of this country. Given the ongoing conversations that people are having, people seem to have ideals that they see the country heading towards, which I think is phenomenal. These productive conversations that are happening–on college campuses, on social media, at the dinner table–demonstrate that people are willing to challenge their preconceptions and have a desire to further understand politics. I am hopeful that these traits will positively influence our nation.”
Joseph D’Andrea and Arpan Josan contributed to this article.
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