Have you really thought about what are the limits of free speech? Clearly, free speech doesn’t include yelling “fire” inside an enclosed public space. But does it include denying someone with whom you disagree the opportunity to express their views? These questions are at the heart of a recent commentary by a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle about how free speech can be anything but on many college campuses:

America’s college campuses, once thought to be bastions of free speech, have become increasingly intolerant toward the practice. Visiting speakers whose views do not conform to the prevailing left-leaning political mind-set on most campuses are at particular risk of having their free speech rights infringed upon. . . . Conservative speakers have long been the targets of such illiberal treatment.

The violent reception given to Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal immigration group, at Columbia University in October is a recent example. Gilchrist had been invited to speak by the Columbia University College Republicans, but was prevented from doing so by an unruly mob of students. What could have been mere heckling descended into yelling, screaming, kicking and punching, culminating in the rushing of the stage and Gilchrist being shuttled off by security.

The fact that the rioting students could be heard yelling, “He has no right to speak!” was telling. Apparently, in their minds, neither Gilchrist nor anyone else with whom they disagree has a right to express their viewpoints.

The commentator goes on to describe other incidents in which conservatives such as David Horowitz were largely denied the opportunity to fully express their views, as were seemingly moderate Muslims who rejected violence against Israel and Jihad against the west.

I have always been a strong supporter of free speech, no matter what its content. As I’ve told my students, free speech belongs to everyone, not just to people with whom you agree. In other ways, the same freedom that allows people like Mel Gibson or Michael Richards to go off on tirades against Jews and Blacks also gives other people the opportunity to denounce their actions as incredibly offensive and racist.

As I also tell my students, extremism and narrowmindedness are not limited to conservatives -- liberals can also be guilty of arrogance, intolerance, and being close-minded. In fact, the incidents that the commentator describes are perfect examples of how liberals or at least left wing extremists can be guilty of the same intolerant behaviors that they supposedly denounce and fight against.

With this in mind, I would like to encourage everyone -- but particularly liberals -- to practice what they preach when it comes to free speech. We can vehemently disagree and criticize someone else’s views all we want, but denying that person the fundamental right to express those views crosses the line into totalitarianism.