PIRGing free speech on campus

A federal appeals court struck a blow for sanity in a decision yesterday which rejects a financing mechanism for something on campus called the Public Interest Research Groups. (PIRGs) The PIRGS were an offshoot of the Nader organization and began in the 1970s with a left wing agenda that included a phony survey of members of congress. I was working for a member from Michigan who decided, not knowing their agenda, to answer their survey honestly only to find the results distorted in favor of his opponent. PIRGs soon figured out that the way to fund their agenda was to sponsor student referenda where only a small minority voted and then claim mandatory student fees to run their left of center campaigns.

But in a case decided on about those facts at SUNY Albany, the court rejected the notion of this kind of tax for the left. In 2000 the Supreme Court said that at least for public colleges and universities mandatory fees had to be available to represent a variety of points of view - exactly what a university should represent. If the public colleges levied mandatory fees for speech those fees had to respect the First Amendment.

The universities could still adopt programs for PIRG or any other fringe group and make them voluntary but it is unlikely that those fees would generate a lot of support. A representative of NY PIRG said the ruling was an "unfortunate one for the freedom of student governments to hear from their students." She also claimed that PIRG's real purpose was job experience. “What we bring to campus is an opportunity for students to get real life experience, things that put them in a better position to get better jobs because they have already participated in a news conference, or done field study, or bringing to life the stuff they are learning in their campuses,” Yeah, right. Perhaps this "student" should go back to class and do a bit more booking on the First Amendment.