Week 7

Camille Joy Abutin

Week 7

Section A01

Robby Cohen’s article, “Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the way for campus activism,” reminds us that the right to freedom of speech was one students had to fight for in academia. Free Speech Movement started in UC Berkeley as a series of sit ins, strikes, and demonstrations by students to fight for the right to freedom of speech. Today, we look to the example of the leaders of FSM to remind us that right to speak out our truths we’ve had to fight the institution for. 

However, the freedom of speech is not equivalent to total freedom in academia. Freedom of speech is simply a tool we must use to achieve freedom in academia. To me, freedom in academia means we’re free to offer ourselves to the betterment of the world even as students. I feel as though in academia, especially as Asian American Students, we’re made “too ignorant to understand how the real world works.” In academia, we can only be taken seriously if we have a certain GPA, a certain test score, or some quantitative qualification. However, I feel as though we should be free to allow our personal experiences, whether it be our culture, our struggles, or simply what we perceive in the world, to connect ourselves to everything beyond the university. When I look at protests regarding hiking tuition rates, DAP, President Trump, or Immigration Laws, I can’t help but feel as though the institution is trying to suppress our voices because your retaliation somehow taints the reputation of the university. Aside from the freedom of speech that FSM fought so hard for, I think FSM signifies something greater to what freedom in academia really means. To me, FSM legitimizes the concerns we as students feel and tells us that politics has a place on campus. Despite the structural barriers and false promises set by administrators, I believe it’s important to embrace our diversity and bring a new weapon to the fight of freedom in academia. As Asian American students, we should fight for the opportunity to offer our perspectives and our strengths to the social movements we care about. 

Q. How can we begin to use our identity as Asian American Students to help benefit social movements that aren’t necessarily related.

Cohen, R. (1985). Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the way for campus activism. OAH Magazine of History, 1(1), 16-18. doi:10.1093/maghis/1.1.16

Marcus, Steven. Mario Savio speaking from the top of the police car. Digital image. Calisphere. UC Berkeley, 1 Oct. 1961. Web. 14 May 2017.