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Professor invokes First Amendment and Camus to urge 'good speech' and dialogue
Summary
Drawing on First Amendment principles and Albert Camus' The Plague, Megan Emery urged residents to respond to hateful remarks with dialogue, listening and constructive speech rather than censorship.
Emery read and discussed the First Amendment and said that while constitutional protections for speech are strong, institutions maintain rules to protect safety and learning environments. She argued that defending free speech includes holding elected officials accountable and that countering hate often requires community-based 'good speech' and dialogue.
Drawing on Albert Camus' The Plague, Emery likened hate to a contagion that can "fester and grow" and said resisting it requires sustained, collective effort and attention to humanity. She also quoted scholar Derek J. Penslar on the boundary between criticism of Israel and antisemitism to underscore the need to avoid conflating political criticism with hostility toward community members.
