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FIRE sees many cases of to shut down speech they dislike on campus on grounds the speaker — or even the speech itself — is “violent” or “harmful.” But students are not alone in relying on dubious ideas about speech as violence to justify censorial or outright threatening behavior. 

On May 2, Shellyne Rodriguez, adjunct assistant professor of art at New York’s Hunter College, which is part of the City University of New York, to two pro-life students tabling on campus by berating them and vandalizing their display. 

“This is fucking propaganda. What are you going to do, like, anti-trans next?” she told the students. “This is bullshit. This is violent. You’re triggering my students.”

The pro-life students tried to defuse the situation, but Rodriguez responded, “Get this shit the fuck out of here,” before she shoved their materials off the table and walked away. 

FIRE for Life of the encounter to Twitter, where it quickly gained attention. Hunter College initially told the school was “taking [the] matter very seriously” and the provost was investigating the incident. It later the professor had been both disciplined and warned that similar future behavior would bring consequences. 

Yet the professor was not without her defenders. The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) Graduate Center, a labor organization of graduate and professional schools at CUNY, Rodriguez’s actions were “justified” because “FIREfor Life set up a table and prominent banners to propagate dangerously false propaganda.” PSC called the pro-life material “disinformation” that “should never be allowed to take root at our college,” and said Rodriguez’s actions “were fully justified, and are part of a long and celebrated CUNY legacy of confronting groups such as military recruiters who disseminate misleading information.” 

If that had been where the story ended, it would be a shameful misunderstanding of the difference between counterspeech and shutting down others’ speech, but not a particularly noteworthy one, given how often that continues to happen in a variety of contexts. And Rodriguez might still have her job. But that’s not where it ended. Not by a long shot.

FIRE routinely defends the free expression rights of objectors to protest a speaker or speech they dislike — including the right to ask a speaker pointed questions or make rude or uncivil comments during Q&A. But vandalism, disruption, and violence do not qualify as permissible counterspeech.

After the video went viral, a New York Post reporter on May 23 to ask some questions. As soon as he identified himself, Rodriguez reportedly yelled, “Get the fuck away from my door, or I’m gonna chop you up with this machete!” And then Rodriguez did come out, brandishing a machete — yes, a real machete — and held it to the reporter’s neck as a photographer accompanying him snapped away. Rodriguez retreated into her apartment, so the reporter and photographer left the building. But then Rodriguez, still carrying the machete, followed them outside. She down the street to his car and reportedly approached the reporter and kicked him in the shins before returning to her building.

By the following morning, Hunter College had Rodriguez, effective immediately, and the NYPD was the incident. the ordeal had “taken a toll on [her] mental health” as she had been “inundated with vile and hateful emails, texts and voicemails” after the video of her confrontation with the pro-life students went viral. On May 25, she surrendered to police and was on menacing and harassment charges. 

Rodriguez justified her actions against the pro-life students peacefully tabling at Hunter College because their views were “violent” and “triggering.” She justified wielding a machete against a New York Post news crew because of the hateful response she had received to the video. Yet in both cases, it was only Rodriguez who engaged in actual violence, threats, and vandalism to shut down others’ speech. Speech is not violence. And violence is not a legitimate response to speech, no matter how “triggering” the ideas expressed. 

FIRE routinely defends the free expression rights of objectors to protest a speaker or speech they dislike — including the right to ask a speaker pointed questions or make rude or uncivil comments during Q&A. But vandalism, disruption, and violence do not qualify as permissible counterspeech. We expect students to abide by these standards, and it is not too much to ask the same of their professors. 

FIRE is a free speech nonprofit  that defends the rights of students and faculty members — no matter their views — at public and private universities and colleges in the United States. If you are a student or a faculty member facing investigation or punishment for your speech, . If you’re faculty member at a public college or university, call the Faculty Legal Defense Fund 24-hour hotline at 254-500-FLDF (3533). If you’re a college journalist facing censorship or a media law question, call the Student Press Freedom Initiative 24-hour hotline at 717-734-SPFI (7734).