[Vision2020] New Guidebooks Offer Students an Education on Civil Liberties

[Dale Courtney]

http://www.thefireguides.org/

College students have a new tool to fight speech codes,
censorship and other draconian measures on their campuses thanks to a broad
coalition of First Amendment supporters.

It comes in the form of a website launched Tuesday and a series of
guidebooks
released by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a
Philadelphia-based civil liberties group. (www.thefire.org)

The 3-year-old organization has been fighting on behalf of students since
its
founding, but now its co-directors, University of Pennsylvania professor
Alan
Charles Kors and Boston lawyer Harvey A. Silverglate, hope the guides
educate students about their rights before they encounter problems.

"We have begun to put out these guides in order to empower the students with
some knowledge and with some tactical advice for what they can do,"
Silverglate said. "We realized that we somehow have to leverage our efforts,
so
we decided we were going to educate a whole generation of college students
in
liberty."

Tuesday's gathering in Washington, D.C., to announce the launch drew a
diverse crowd of First Amendment supporters. Former U.S. Attorney General
Edwin Meese III, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, joked
with
American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen that they probably
disagree on 99.9 percent of issues, except when it comes to free speech.

Meese and Strossen were two of nearly a dozen First Amendment
heavyweights who contributed to FIRE's guides. The books address common
problems facing students at many American colleges, offering advice on
topics
like free speech, religious freedom, due process rights, student fees, and
thought
reform.