Statement about campus speakers

August 27, 2024

We have received your messages and understand your concerns about an upcoming speakers’ event at our campus. This event is organized by a registered student group, and it is not endorsed by the university.

Like many other universities across the country, USC has adopted the Chicago Principles that pledge to remove obstacles to constitutionally protected free expression on our campuses. We remain steadfast in safeguarding the First Amendment rights of our students, even when we may be offended by their choices and statements.

Our university is built on core values embodied in our aspirational Carolinian Creed that encourages all students to “respect the dignity of all persons” and “discourage bigotry.” The vast majority of our Carolina community lives by these deeply rooted values, which are not threatened or altered by the presence of extremists and provocateurs on our campus.  

We do not know what the speakers plan to say during the event, but they have used vulgar language in promotional material, and they have said troubling and offensive things in the past.  As a university, we denounce hate and bigotry.  We condemn the vile and juvenile rhetoric used to promote this event and reaffirm the aspirational values enumerated in the Carolinian Creed.

Censoring even the most hateful individuals and groups does not solve the problems we face in our society and instead provides them with a platform to win more publicity and support, because their message was silenced. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote almost a century ago in a vigorous defense of free speech, the solution to fighting offensive speech is “more speech, not enforced silence.”

Democracy requires active engagement and participation in the face of views we oppose. Let your voices be heard through peaceful civil discourse that generates constructive debates even amid the most hateful words or images you can imagine. In these divisive times, we can change the narrative with the skills, grace and intelligence that USC has long cultivated in its students.

Michael Amiridis, President
Thad Westbrook, Chair, Board of Trustees