If you’re familiar with Tyler Magill’s story, you’ll recall he was the University of Virginia alumnus and employee who approached white nationalist Jason Kessler on August 11, 2017 during the white nationalist riot. As a result of the assault, Magill suffered a stroke.

Magill describes how the University of Virginia permit white nationalist rioters in a letter to university president Teresa Sullivan.

Similarly, universities across the country are in three ways producing white nationalists. First, schools are terrified of First Amendment violations of free speech rights. Colleges are failing to keep their campuses safe. Finally, university leadership may be lacking in both leadership and integrity.

The Freedom of expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment

A breach of free expression is a key worry for institutions.

When the University of Auburn refused white nationalists the right to protest on campus during a Richard Spencer-sponsored event, the protestors went to court and won. Since then, other universities have expressed concern about the legality of barring alt-right speakers and events from their campuses.

Regardless of the message, universities must uphold First Amendment rights. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center have advocated for the protection of free speech.

White nationalists have used free speech rights to promote themselves at colleges and universities across the country.

Integrity and leadership

Academic freedom must be safeguarded, according to the Association of Governing Boards. This will necessitate consistent integrity and leadership.

Leaders in higher education must understand the First Amendment and its implications for free speech.

To counteract white nationalist aggression, school presidents must make decisions that are consistent with the university’s values as well as constitutional rights. They must be given the opportunity and encouraged to speak out against hate speech. This was not done by the president of the University of Virginia.

Universities have been compelled to sacrifice their principles in order to maintain free speech and campus safety, and as a result, white nationalists have emerged.

Campus security

The threat of imminent danger necessitates a quick response from campus leadership.

Pandemonium cannot be tolerated at any university. The University of California, Berkeley, paid $600,000 for extra security at Ben Shapiro’s speech. It would have been less expensive to cancel the speech, but the school was unable to do so due to the possibility of violence.

As a result, college leadership has been compelled to choose between two options in order to ensure campus safety: either spend large sums of money on providing adequate security or ignoring the situation in the hope that nothing violent occurs.

The president of the University of Virginia took the second position, which resulted in injury and death. Ignoring a potentially volatile situation is never a good idea.