Between the steps of Wilson Short Hall and the far entrance of the Compton Union Building lies a concrete walkway, the purpose of which has been debated and, more importantly, defeated across the nation.

I’m not writing about walking — I’m writing about WSU walking all over your rights. This small, inconspicuous area is actually home to our campus “Free Speech Zone.”

What the name alone confers is ridiculous: that we, the students, are limited to expressing ourselves freely only in this one area. Even more ridiculous, though, is that you need to give the school a two week notice in order to do so.

The Daily Evergreen recently ran a story about a September 16th hearing on the school’s use of free speech zones. ASWSU Vice President LaKecia Farmer is quoted as saying, “If colleges and universities are not repositories of ideas, then what are they?”

The ASWSU Director of University Affairs, Jansen VanderMuelen, contributed along with Farmer that the two week waiting period may reduce turnout and passions for protesters as issues become less salient over time.

I admire our student leaders’ restraint in debating with school officials on this matter. Others, such as Greg Lukianoff and his organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), have taken the issue to the courts and won.

The first case of modern free speech codes being defeated came in Doe v. Michigan, and according to the Huffington Post, universities have consistently lost battles on the topic since then.

Lukianoff’s FIRE has announced in July that they had brought suits against four more schools, including Ohio University, Iowa State University, Chicago State University, and Citrus College in California. The question now is how long until someone comes after Washington State?

Free speech is guaranteed by the First Amendment of our Constitution, so it’s only a matter of time before somebody at FIRE or the ACLU notices or WSU adopts a smart position and abandons their oppressive policy.

The LA Times reports that at Chicago State, two faculty members have suffered from repeated attempts to silence their blogs on alleged administrative corruption. At Citrus College, a student allegedly stepped outside of the designated free speech zone while talking to another student about the National Security Agency.

At WSU, the emergency rally in support of Hong Kong held on Oct 1 received a special exemption that allowed them to bypass the two week rule. Perhaps this is a result of pressure the university felt from the September 16th discussion with Farmer and VanderMuelen.

On the other hand, maybe it’s just a little bit ridiculous that a special exemption was needed in the first place. If the two week rule had held, there’s no doubt that support for the rally would have been fleeting.

While WSU has the free speech regulations on the books, it hasn’t taken to enforcing them with much conviction — rather, the rule serves to scare students from speaking their mind about controversial issues and bringing the school into the spotlight.

And while it’s easy to believe that what happened to Iowa State couldn’t happen here, just remember that they are just one of many to receive a legal smack down.

It won’t be long until a student here feels as if their inalienable right to free speech has been violated and Washington State representatives will be forced to back down or hang their head in shame as they walk out of the courtroom.

WSU’s own news announcement system seems to have turned on the institution, titling a recent article, “Public Square: When Free Speech isn’t Free.” Now, students must take the initiative and demand that it becomes so.

But only do so in the area between Wilson Short and the CUB, and be sure to give the university two weeks of notice — otherwise, you may anger the powers that be.