By: Kevin McMahon
A judge is allowing a medical student at the University of Virginia (UVA) to move forward with a First Amendment lawsuit against the university, according to Reason Magazine. While attending an event in October 2018 that sought to discuss microaggressions, Kieran Bhattacharya questioned the panel on the merits of microaggressions, and voiced his concerns with the concept.
Following this exchange, an assistant professor involved with the organization of the event issued a “professional concern card” complaint against the student, claiming that his inquiries brought into question his ability to perform as a medical professional.
The discipline process brought against Bhattacharya ultimately led to mandatory psychiatric evaluations and eventually the student was even suspended from the university—all for daring to question the leftist orthodoxy on campus.
The university is arguing that the case should be dismissed, claiming that “offensive student speech does not enjoy First Amendment protection.”
UVA argued that a public university student mildly objecting to microaggression theory was offensive speech and thus not covered by the First Amendment. pic.twitter.com/eiVvnhEU7r
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 8, 2021
University of Virginia is no stranger to violations of the First Amendment and attacks on freedom of speech. The Student Government at UVA attempted to create a “strike system” meant to punish professors who offend the student body, and even went so far as to prevent the Young Americans for Freedom Chapter at UVA from being officially recognized by the university.
Victoria Spiotto, chairman of Young Americans for Freedom at the University of Virginia, is standing up for the First Amendment rights of all students on campus. “No institution, especially a public one founded by one of America’s most ingenious and intuitive Founding Fathers, should engage in unconstitutional, anti-academic behavior. All speech is free; the First Amendment exists to protect all speech and should never be perverted to suggest that unpopular speech is unprotected.”
If you or somebody you know is being censored or discriminated against on campus for their conservative views, we want to know. Drop us a tip at http://www.yaf.org/tips/.
