The Doug Hahn Hate Speech Case
The Case
The notorious "Doug Hann case" resulted from an incident on October 18, 1990
.
According to the February 18, 1991 edition of the New York Times, "Mr. Hann,
who was celebrating his 21st birthday, and several members of his Delta Phi
fraternity were walking down Brown Street to Keeney Quad, a freshman
dormitory. Mr. Hann started shouting anti-black comments involving a common
obscenity and the word 'nigger.' The remarks did not appear to be directed
at anyone, the witness said."
"When a student in the dormitory opened his window and shouted, 'Keep it
down,' Mr. Hann reportedly shouted, 'What are you a faggot?, what are you a
Jew?' and an obscenity."
The article continues, "The dormitory student gathered some friends and
confronted Mr. Hann. The obscene and biased remarks continued until Mr.
Hann was pulled away by his friends. The dormitory student later filed a
complaint with the disciplinary council."
When the UDC met to consider the charges against Mr. Hann (Offense II.a and
b, and Offense IV), they found him guilty on all counts and passed a
sentence of expulsion. It was the first and, to this day, the only time the
UDC expelled a student. Mr. Hann appealed the sentence to President
Gregorian, who upheld the sentence.
The Doug Hann case is believed to be the first time any university expelled
a student for so-called "hate speech."
When asked to clarify what types of speech are punishable under the
University's speech code, President Gregorian indicated that University
rules address clearly abusive behavior, slogans on T-shirts, cartoons in
student publications or even the hanging of a Confederate flag on a
dormatory room door--all of which, Gregorian said, may be deemed offensive.
Our Stance
The Brown ACLU objected to Hann's expulsion. It shared Washington Post
writer Jonathan Yardley's sentiments. In the February 18, 1991 Washington
Post, Yardley writes:
"[T]he crusade against 'hate speech' is an integral part of the overall
process by which American higher education is attempting to enforce
compliance to its own political orthodoxy....Of course it's offensive--
repugnant, contemptible, loathsome, whatever you want to call it--for a
college student or anyone else to go into a public place and shout words
such as those used by Douglas Hann in his little scene last fall. But
displays such as that are among the prices we pay for being not merely a
free country but one of unexampled heterogeneity...telling [students] to
keep their mouths shut is scarcely a way to teach them anything except blind
obedience, and that's strictly a lesson for fascists."
For more information about this case please contact
John_Snyder@brown.edu
