Should This Student Be Expelled?

In an article written by Nat Hentoff for the Village Voice,  Hentoff discusses the case of Doug Hann,  a varsity football player for the prestigious Brown University.  In 1990 Hann was involved in a situation where he went on a drunken rant, on his 21st birthday,  were many racial slurs were used. This rant had taken place on campus, and witness by many other students.  At first the slurs were not targeting one specific individual, but when another student asked Hann to calm down and lower his voice, Hann began to use racial and sexual slurs at specific people. Later when some students had had enough, they began to follow Hann and his friends and Hann's began to make demeaning comments to the students of other races, even trying to fight a few of them. It was later found out that this was not Hann's first time getting drunk and spitting out racial slurs. He was ordered two years prior to the birthday night incident to take race relations workshop for calling  man a "nigger" in a bar. 

Months later Hann was expelled, with no chance of re-admittance,  from Brown University for the birthday night rant. Hann was expelled under the "Hate Speech Code" that had been adapted by other schools arcoss the nation. Some agreed with the code and others did not. It was clear that Hentoff was one that did not agree that code. Personally it caused me to do some serious deep thinking.

Racial slurs are wrong and as a society we know that, but I think almost everyone is guilty of using them at times, but not in a public setting. Most people aren't racist but just calling someone stupid or ugly or even when a women is called a bitch or a whore: people use words that they know will hurt the person or persons they are aimed after.  Its doenst mean thatthey person using the terms has a real serious biased against the race, sexualaitly or gender of the person, but what Hann did showed, in my opinion, thay he was rascist.  He didnt mind using such terms in a public setting and was even educated enough to know what the Israli flag looked like to evenn make anti-semtic slur at that person.  Alcohol played a little role in his behavior to me, and becuase this situation took place on campus, I blieve the school did exactly what was appropiate. He had already had one cance two years ago to fix his issues, but he choose not to. That is his fault.

Now I believe in Free Speech, but what he did was not that. This was not a clan rally an individual speech to a crowd of followers. This was a racist grown man allowing alcohol to show his true self.  Colleges at the end of the day are to have a since of unity, and speaking hate on campus has no place there. If this was take place off campus grounds I would not agree to have Hann expelled, but since it was the school acted correctly.