The week of January 27-31 is First Amendment Awareness Week at GHC.
This is the time each year when everyone at the college is encouraged to become more aware of what the First Amendment to the United States Constitution actually says and reflect on the important freedoms it protects.
GHC’s First Amendment Awareness Week has been sponsored by the Six Mile Post for over fifteen years and is co-sponsored by various GHC organizations. On behalf of the SMP staff, I am asking faculty to take a moment during the week to read the First Amendment to your students. It would also be nice to allow time for a little discussion if you have time. From from 12- 1 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29, the Student Press Law Center is hosting a livestream of “New Visions of the Future of Press Freedom“ with a panel of student journalists talking about press freedom hosted by our partners at the National Archives and moderated by professional journalist Joie Chen. I encourage you watch and incorporate this into your courses, if possible. Go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Fypxm2gEQ to watch it live.
While the First Amendment is just one sentence long, it protects some of our most cherished freedoms—our freedom of religion, speech, press and our right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government. These have been our basic rights for a long time. The free exchange of ideas the First Amendment protects is fundamental to the academic environment of a public college and to a democratic society.
—Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. — The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
I encourage everyone to recognize and participate in the week as it seems appropriate.
Best,
Allison Hattaway
Georgia Highlands College
Assistant Professor of Journalism & Communication
Six Mile Post Faculty Adviser