Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment.
This week was supposed to be “Free Speech Week” at UC Berkeley, a controversial four-day event full of far-right speakers, effectively organized and bankrolled by self-described troll Milo Yiannopoulos to promote conservative speech on college campuses.
But before it could even start, the small student group behind the event — The Berkeley Patriot — pulled their sponsorship. Their lawyer said the school was putting up too many barriers, while the university maintained they were following the protocol for all student events.
This Sunday is the official Free Speech Day in California, to mark the anniversary of the protest that became the genesis of the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in 1964.
Lynne Hollander Savio was part of the Free Speech Movement when she was a student at Cal. She’s also the widow of Mario Savio, one of the leaders of the movement, and she reflects on the state of free speech on colleges campuses today.
This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.