Do Campus Speech Codes Violate Students' Rights?

The first amendment states that "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech." With this stated, how come some universities feel that they have the power to censor that right? Some colleges such as the University of Houston have implemented "free speech zones." This is a place on campus that ables a person to speak "freely". However choosing where a person is able to share their ideas goes against the First Amendment.
Harvey Silvergate the author of "Muzzling Free speech" feels that "free speech zones do not solve the issue of restricted speech. Instead they have a chilling effect on campus discourse and are a dangerous threat to ideals of free speech." (p.122) Silvergate is not alone in his views of censoring speech. Denise Chaykun, a student at Bucknell University shares his beliefs. Chaykun attends a school that has a speech code and she feels that "censoring free speech is a bad idea."(p.129) She feels that "Bucknell University has also been faced with the dilemma of whether to protect feelings or protect ideas." (p.132) Allowing people to use free speech means that you allow people to express how they feel. People come in many different shapes, sizes and colors. They also come with many different views about every aspect of life. When people are allowed to express those views they are bound to be disagreements. But just because someone has a strong belief in something and wants to express it by using freedom of speech does not mean that they are right or wrong. Part of life is about learning from one another, people need to express their ideas so they can get input from others, whether that input be positive or negative does not matter.
Censorship is a way of judging someones beliefs. An example of this unfair censorship was demonstrated at University of Houston. The university allowed an anti-abortion exhibit on the campus, then denied a Pro-Life group exhibition. The university stated the reason they did not allow the Pro-Life group was its "potential disruptiveness".(p.124) In the end when a university decides whether or not to allow free speech they are placing judgement on how they feel about a topic. The Bill Of Rights states that everyone person is allowed to have Freedom of Speech therefore no one should have the right to put such limitations on that right such as time, place or manner.

Silverglate, Henry A. “Muzzling Free Speech.” Goshgarian, Gary. What Matters in America. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 122-124.

Chaykun, Denise. “ Free Speech Sucks! . . . But Censorship Sucks Even More.” .” Goshgarian, Gary. What Matters in America. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 129-132.