TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College officials say free speech and respectful dialogue remain central to the school’s mission as a protest is planned alongside the launch of a new conservative student group.
Turning Point USA, has recently opened a chapter at the college. A protest is scheduled for Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., coinciding with the group’s launch party. Protesters describe themselves as anti-fascist community members and call TPUSA a hate group.
Todd Neibauer, who heads student groups at NMC, said political organizations like this are encouraged. “We’re always looking for student interaction, student groups,” Neibauer said. “The more we have, the more engaged they are. That’s better for them. It makes for a lively campus”.
Neibauer said disagreement is expected in a college setting and should be handled through dialogue rather than disruption. “I think it’s really important that the college can engage in meaningful dialogue,” he said. “People have views to express, and that can sometimes end up on two sides of an issue that people disagree on”.
He added that higher education has historically served as a forum for debate. “Higher education has always been a place where ideas are exchanged, tested, and discussed,” Neibauer said. “That legacy, I think, continues here at Northwestern Michigan College”.
Neibauer emphasized that free speech does not require agreement. “It’s important that folks have the ability to have constructive conversations,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they agree, but they have to be able to test those ideas and see how they work with other people”.
He said the college also recognizes limits on expression in an academic environment. “There are some limitations on free speech,” Neibauer said. “There’s time and place, and disrupting another activity of another group is not one of those places where you get to”.
To balance those concerns, Neibauer said the college will establish designated free-speech zones outside the Student Innovation Center. “Both folks have a place where they can have their views expressed,” he said, adding that the goal is to prevent academic programming or student group activities from being interrupted.
Neibauer said preparing students to navigate disagreement is part of the college’s responsibility. “If that’s the world they’re walking into, then we need to make sure they’re well equipped to deal with those things,” Neibauer said, adding that the college hopes students will “carry on a better legacy for constructive dialogue”.