‘The penalties for violations prescribed in this bill would put the financial health of our universities at serious risk,’ UW system official says

A bill winding its way through the Wisconsin state legislature would force public universities found guilty of violating free speech or academic freedom rights to freeze tuition costs as punishment.

Under the Republican-led Senate Bill 498, the Campus Free Speech bill, a public college or university cannot restrict free speech “if the speaker’s conduct is not unlawful and does not materially and substantially disrupt the functioning of the [campus].”

The bill requires institutions to designate most areas on campus as acceptable public forums — not just inside a “free speech zone.” Administrators also cannot mandate permits as a condition of being allowed to engage in most undisruptive expressive activities; for activities that do require a permit, “any security fee must be content and viewpoint neutral,” the bill states.

If a college or university is found to violate these provisions more than more than once in a five-year period, “it must freeze tuition for all students for the following two academic years.”

Republican state Rep. Amanda Nedweski, who cosponsored the bill, cited during a recent hearing on the bill several examples of universities violating free speech rights over the years:

Just this spring, on Election Day for the April election, a professor at UW-Eau Claire flipped over a table set up by the College Republicans, who were advocating for their preferred candidates on campus. The Whitewater College Republicans have repeatedly had their signs and posters damaged and/or vandalized and have incurred thousands of dollars in damages to promotional materials for events on campus. In 2022, conservative commentator Matt Walsh was invited to speak on UW-Madison’s campus, and vandals took to campus property in protest, causing significant damage. Online events such as UW-Madison’s “Black Conservatism: The Past, Present, and Future” get shut down when protestors on the Zoom platform performed lewd acts on camera and overtook the audio in a (successful) effort to derail the discussion and stifle dissenting speech.

Opponents of the bill, including the UW-Madison faculty union, argue it is unnecessary, redundant, and legislative overreach.

“The bill is attempting to address a problem that doesn’t exist, because it fails recognize that there are already policies and procedures in place to prevent the violations enumerated in them, and provide remedies for such violations should they occur,” the union said in a statement to lawmakers.

A top UW system official also agreed campuses follow state and federal free speech laws, adding in a statement that “the penalties for violations prescribed in this bill would put the financial health of our universities at serious risk.”

The bill recently passed the state senate in a narrow vote and now heads to the state assembly for review.

MORE: Wisconsin professor on leave for allegedly flipping College Republicans’ table on Election Day