Speech First
Fellow American,

Izabella Doricko is a college student at Southern Methodist University in Texas who has seen firsthand the challenges and backlash college students face when trying to speak on political topics in the classroom.

“This censorship culture is hurting everyone,” says Izabella, a Philosophy and Communication major. “My fellow classmates are timid and afraid to say anything regarding their opinions, even just for the sake of discussion. [But] the best way to learn and refine your beliefs is to put them on the table for rigorous debate and see if they hold up.
Izabella Doricko
Above: Izabella Doricko

“Engaging with dissenting viewpoints is an opportunity to grow and try to understand each other.”

One sensitive topic Izabella sees her peers struggling to discuss is the push for trans athletes to participate in women’s sports. “This is a very sensitive issue to talk about with my peers,” says Izabella, a former student athlete herself. “Retaliation is likely considering the political climate on college campuses. Issues that have historically been associated with women’s rights are now almost exclusively trans-rights.”

“I fear that soon there will be no more women’s sports in the traditional sense, due to most people’s silence and apathy on the issue. The reason Title IX exists is to ensure that women have equal competing opportunities as men. But the very rights that women have upheld for generations are being radically redefined under our watch and could soon be obsolete in only a few years’ time.”

Izabella has also experienced firsthand what happens when professors are committed to preaching their personal political ideology in the classroom, noting that when professors do this, it shuts down potential discussion and learning.

“In a course that was supposed to be about medical anthropology, [the] professor consistently refused to entertain any views that didn’t match her own political ideology,” she says. “The only students that would speak up in these scenarios were ones who already agreed with the professor, but most people stayed quiet.”

Despite these concerns, Izabella says she has had some positive interactions when it comes to campus free speech -- and when it happens, it’s a powerful reminder of just how valuable free discourse is.

“My [Political Philosophy] professor encouraged all of us to discuss any issue which we felt strongly about and explain why,” she describes. “I was astounded that every person in my group shared their stories, while everyone else charitably listened to them.”

Ultimately, Izabella says, “College is for exploring different opinions and learning -- not being told what to think. This culture of silencing and shunning your opponents is not going to age well.”

Fellow American, experiences like Izabella’s are why our work together, protecting students’ free speech rights on campus, is so critical.

Through advocacy, litigation, and education, your support for Speech First’s urgent work is putting colleges and universities on notice that shutting down unwanted speech will no longer be tolerated.

So thank you for your continued support of Speech First. It’s making a difference in the lives of real students just like Izabella Doricko!

Cherise Trump
Executive Director
Speech First
Cherise Trump