Week 7- Thuong Nguyen, A01

This week I read, "Berkeley Free Speech Movement" by Robby Cohen. Students advocating for the civil rights movement wanted to voice their views and saw campus regulations against political advocacy on campus as an infringement on freedom of speech. This article made me realize how much power the university holds. They were able to arrest 800 students who participated in the freedom of speech movement. This show the extent that the university will go to maintain power over the student. I view the restriction of student political advocacy on campus as a means to silence the students. This silencing makes it easier for students to conform to the universities own political beliefs. They were unwilling to give up this power of control. This event also makes me understand how the system works. It is hard for a single student to make a difference for what he/she believes in. But the work of one student can stir up enough commotion that could pull in more students towards the cause. When a large proportion of the student body rise up against the school, it is hard for the university to ignore this resistance. With enough resolve, this could result in a win in the student's favor. This sets the scene for many future generations to come. The event would serve as a fuel, and light up the other student's courage to speak up against their own school. I think this is why university is so resistant against change. If they allow the students to win at one school, this would be a prescient for not only all other universities but future students to come.

Question: What would it take for the student body as a whole to unify and voice their concerns?

References: 
Cohen, R. (1985, April). Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the way for student activism. Organization of American Historians, 1(1), 16-18. Retrieved November 4, 2017

Klein, R. W. (2017, October 05). Berkeley's Fight For Free Speech Fired Up Student Protest Movement [Digital image]. Retrieved November 4, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/2014/10/05/353849567/when-political-speech-was-banned-at-berkeley