Three professors talked about the importance of the First Amendment to a full lecture room in Coleman Hall in a panel sponsored by the Society for Collegiate Journalists.

Political science professors Richard Wandling and Karen Swenson as well as James Tidwell, the chairman of journalism department, spoke to students about issues including First Amendment provisions, the Chick-fil-A controversy and labor unions’ effects on campaign funding.

Tidwell started off the panel by talking about the actions covered by the First Amendment.

“Since you are going to a public school in the state of Illinois, any action the university takes against you is a government action,” he said.

Private schools do not have the same protection under the First Amendment, Tidwell said.

Swenson brought social media into the equation by talking about the uses of the platforms as forms of free speech.

“Companies like Google and Facebook and Twitter are keeping it up there because they’re committed to the spirit behind freedom of speech and freedom of expression,” she said.

Wandling and Tidwell talked about different Supreme Court cases over the years that involved freedom of speech including cases about hate speech and how people should look the other way if speech is offensive to them.

“The United States is pretty unique in how broadly we protect free speech,” Tidwell said.

Chick-fil-A was discussed at length, and was both explained for students who did not know much about it and how it pertained to Eastern.

“Eastern was a part of Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, which was populated by people who supported the conservative view of the Chick-fil-A CEO, which was critical of same-sex marriage and other approaches,” Wandling said. “This has prompted a major debate nationwide, including an EIU eat-in which received press coverage.”

Though many groups on campus have been critical of the movements made by Chick-fil-A, Tidwell said Eastern should not be so quick to judge.

“Punishing someone for their speech is very dangerous, especially when it’s done by a government institution,” Tidwell said.

Swenson brought up how politicians push the boundaries of free speech often in their political campaigns against their opponents.

“Money and speech are always tied up together,” she said.

Wandling talked about how labor unions and corporations can give thousands of dollars to politicians and campaigns.

“As long as they’re not coordinating their activities with campaigns, they can spend as much as they want,” he said.

The panel was paired with a Freedom Wall displayed on the steps of the Doudna Fine Arts Center on Monday where students could write anything they wished on the wall. They could also embrace their freedom of speech by speaking their thoughts into a microphone that was heard across the Library Quad.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].