On Wednesday, Oct. 29, the Associated Students of Fort Lewis College board voted to deny a request for a Turning Point USA chapter to become a new Registered Student Organization (Herald, Nov. 2). Friday, Nov, 7, in a special meeting, six members unanimously reversed course without explanation (Herald, Nov. 9).
It was, in every sense, a turning point – a moment when students appeared to choose to defend a principle rather than suppress a viewpoint.
As offensive or objectionable as speech can be, defending it remains a cornerstone of democracy. As Evelyn Beatrice Hall wrote of Voltaire’s philosophy of freedom of expression: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
There are limits to free speech. Falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded theater or issuing true threats can be punished because of immediate danger. In Counterman v. Colorado (2023), the Supreme Court ruled that speech is unprotected when the speaker recklessly disregards a substantial risk that it will be viewed as threatening violence. But for the most part, citizens must live with both the right – and the responsibility – of the First Amendment.
No place is better suited to teach that balance than a college or university. Over the past decade, campuses have become battlegrounds in America’s culture wars, reflecting the polarization dividing the nation. Fort Lewis College has not been immune. In April, it canceled Jackson Clark II’s lecture, “Saving Navajo Weaving,” after Indigenous organizers objected that it promoted a “white-savior” narrative (Herald, Apr. 21). Administrators cited safety concerns over protests, but many viewed the decision as censorship that undermined the college’s stated commitment to the free exchange of ideas. Since Clark’s passing in August (Herald, Aug. 28, Sept. 30), that opportunity also passed – some lessons are permanent.
That same question now applies to Turning Point USA. Denying recognition indefinitely could also have amounted to censorship.
The reversal, though a win for free expression, comes amid growing federal pressure on higher education. Fort Lewis recently lost a $2.7 million Department of Education grant supporting minority-serving institutions (Herald, Oct. 7). The Trump administration has tied future aid to an “ideological compact” capping international enrollment at 15%, banning race- or sex-based hiring and admissions, and urging colleges to dismantle DEI and multicultural programs seen as hostile to conservative ideas. Conservatives argue higher education has long been dominated by “woke” ideology, but never before has federal pressure to conform been so direct – or so transactional.
Academic freedom is fragile. The cancellation of a lecture, the near-denial of a student organization, and the loss of funding over diversity initiatives all show how easily that freedom can erode – from both the left and the right.
Perhaps the presence of a Turning Point USA chapter will test how well students can debate controversial ideas. The organization’s late founder, Charlie Kirk, was known for his confrontational “prove me wrong” debates. A Sept. 27 New York Times analysis found he used emotional triggers, misleading statistics, and rhetorical traps to dominate exchanges – more performance than dialogue. Fort Lewis can offer a better model, one grounded in inquiry, evidence, and empathy.
That’s where education comes in. Fort Lewis offers courses in rhetoric and research, teaching students to reason, argue, and listen with integrity – skills essential to citizenship. The Political Engagement Project, a nonpartisan, student-led initiative, helps students stay informed, vote, and participate in public life. Programs like these are what democracy needs: students learning not just what to think, but how to think critically and engage constructively.
Dr. Heather J. Shotton, the college’s first Indigenous president, brings both vision and credibility. An enrolled citizen of the Wichita & Affiliated Tribes and descendant of the Kiowa and Cheyenne Tribes, she is a first-generation college graduate whose relatives survived the federal Indian boarding-school system – from which Fort Lewis itself evolved. Her leadership, grounded in inclusion and reconciliation, offers the empathy and steadiness needed to navigate divisive times.
Higher education exists to educate, innovate, and serve – to expand minds, advance society, and strengthen democracy through truth and the exchange of ideas. Yet that mission is being tested from every direction.
The challenge now is to teach students to listen, learn, and debate respectfully. If not in college, then where? Fort Lewis’s president, faculty, and students are uniquely positioned to demonstrate that free speech and respect for others are not opposing values – they are the same lesson.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this editorial misstated the timing of the ASFLC board’s reversal of its vote denying recognition of a Turning Point USA chapter as a Registered Student Organization. The reversal occurred on Nov. 7.
