The College of St. Mary will hold two free presentations on Tuesday, March 21st, focused on a landmark Supreme Court ruling affirming students’ right of free speech.
Sally Bisson-Best, associate professor and Director of Legal Studies at CSM, says the college invited Mary Beth Tinker to speak at the two events.
In 1969, Tinker, who was 13 years old at the time, wore a black arm band to school in protest of the Vietnam War. The school suspended her and so her family ended up suing the Des Moines school district.
Bisson-Best explains the case went to the Supreme Court and they ruled in favor of Tinker with a vote of 7-2.
"You don’t very often have the chance to hear someone who was the plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case. Her case is still, what I would consider, the most prominent First Amendment case for students’ free speech rights, even though it happened in the sixties. And so I think its living history. You have the ability to interact with someone who actually helped change the world. And that’s an opportunity we hope a lot of people are interested in.”
Tinker will talk about civic engagement and students’ free speech rights. Her presentations take place at Noon and 7:00 on Tuesday, March 21st in the College of St. Mary’s Gross Auditorium.
More information is available at CSM.edu/tinker.