Word up to all professors:

Don’t give an open-ended assignment if you can’t handle students misguided ramblings, definitely don’t call the student in question a “fascist bastard”, or threaten to have them kicked out of the college.

Apparently, public speaking professor John Matteson, finds himself in this very situation after student, Jonathan (he would have one of the gayest names ever) Lopez gave part of a speech against gay marriage. Matteson reportedly refused to let Lopez finish, then threatened to have him kicked out of Los Angeles City College if he went to authorities.

Look, Jonathan may or may not be a huge tool, but you can’t shut people up just because they are saying something stupid. How else, for example, would Fox News exist?

Long live the First Amendment, people!

This article appears in February 13 • 2009.

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