Mike Adams
"For the last fifteen years, I’ve been writing about the steady decline in respect for free speech on our
college campuses. For those who think that dangerous trend is simply the fault of immature college
students, I submit the case of Fresno State University Professor Greg Thatcher for your careful
consideration. Before reading my response to Thatcher, please watch his brief sermon on the First
Amendment by clicking on this link.
"By way of background information, it was back in April that a Fresno State prolife group received
permission to chalk prolife messages on the sidewalks leading to the university’s library. After they
actually put some of the messages on the sidewalk, Thatcher, who teaches public health, confronted
the prolife students. In the confrontation, Thatcher alleged that the students could not chalk
messages near the library, and could only engage in expression in the socalled “free speech area.”
This is factually inaccurate as the university eliminated the speech zone in June of 2015.
"After the president of the prolife club explained that she had university permission to chalk
messages in that precise location, Thatcher threatened to return and erase the messages. But then he
did something even worse than that: He actually recruited at least seven students from his class to
join him in the patently illegal enterprise of defacing constitutionally protected speech.
"Fortunately . . . "