The Problems With Speech Codes

Higher education governing boards and the trustees who serve on them, especially those boards and trustees tasked with governing public institutions, face a daunting environment. They frequently encounter demands from different constituencies that vary in substance and position on difficult issues facing an institution.  

There are internal pressures: students, faculty, staff, unions, alumni, key donors, and institutional partners. There are external pressures: neighbors, the local business community, local municipalities and counties, federal, state and local governmental agencies, the legislature or governor (especially in those places where board members are appointed by these bodies), the local, state and national news media, accreditors and athletic conferences, political action groups, and even Congress and the president, to name a few. And for those elected to a board at the ballot box, there is the general electorate.