Christopher Cervantes
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Out of all the rights afforded to us, as American citizens, the right to free speech is easily the one that is the closest to the hearts of the public. Without it, we wouldn’t be the same nation that we are today, and I’d be out of a job. However, just because people could say something doesn’t mean that they should say something.

Case in point, the expulsion of a University of Iowa student last week. The student, 22-year-old Hanxiang Ni, was expelled on Feb. 2, not long after he posted a questionable entry on a Chinese social-media site. The text accompanying the photo stated that if he did not good grades this semester, his professors would “experience the fear of Lu Gang.”

For those who don’t know, Gang Lu was the gunman in the infamous University of Iowa school shooting of 1991, in which six people, including Lu, were killed. The day is forever etched on campus with the T. Anne Cleary Walkway being named in memory of one of the victims, a UI administrator. Another victim, a UI student working in Cleary’s office, was severely wounded and paralyzed.

The Ni incident has led to discussions across campus. My Human Rights class took the time to talk about the case, and topics included discrimination against foreign students, freedom of speech, and what factors they played into the scenario.

While some people may see an issue here, I don’t.

I’m not ignorant, nor am I naïve. There are some members of the student body here who are xenophobic. They make their jokes in hushed tones and let out pointed laughs as others walk by. I see it, and it bugs me. However, the fact that both Ni and Lu were Chinese is nothing more than a coincidence.

Let me propose a situation. What if another student, of any ethniticty, at Virginia Tech posted something on Instagram? What if that student posted something along the lines of his professors feeling the fear of Seung-Hui Cho, the 2007 Virginia Tech shooter? That student would be expelled because the content is a threat to the school.

Which brings us to freedom of speech.

There is a very fine line whenever free speech is involved. However, whenever a threat is involved, that is when an exception is placed, as decided in the Supreme Court case Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire.

Ni claims that what he posted was not to be taken seriously, that he wrote it in Chinese to avoid a misunderstanding. This may sound harsh, but leniency should not be considered here. Ni is 22. He should be aware of the repercussions of his actions and the poor taste that came with referencing one of the UI’s darkest moments.

Ni is now back in China. The best thing both he and the rest of us can get from this situation is to learn to be careful of what we say and post for the world to see. Despite its seeming like yesterday, we aren’t just teenagers anymore. Facing the consequences is inevitable.