Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to speak at Middle Tennessee State University Tuesday on “Defining Democracy,” as part of the university’s annual “Constitution Week” organized by the university’s American Democracy Project.
The choice has brought pushback from some student groups, but university administration has emphasized the choice is an example of the university’s dedication to free expression, and “not partisan.”
“MTSU throughout the years has hosted speakers representing a wide spectrum of beliefs, perspectives and points of view,” MTSU President Sidney McPhee said in a statement. “I have long held that providing a welcoming environment for the free expression of ideas is essential for preparing students to become successful scholars, engaged citizens and well-rounded human beings.”
The annual event stems from a Cold War federal law passed in 1954, and later amended in 2004, that mandates universities that receive federal funding to hold educational events regarding the Constitution on Sept. 17, which is National Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
Former speakers at MTSU for the celebration have included former U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, as well as former Vice President Al Gore.
McPhee said principles the university adheres to dictate that it is not the university’s role to “attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they may find ‘offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed.’”
In a statement, John Vile, dean of the Honors College at MTSU, said the decision to host Pence was years in the making. According to him, Pence was suggested to the university as a speaker prior to his election as vice president. This, along with Pence’s defense of democracy on Jan. 6, 2021, encouraged the school to book him.
“We decided that Pence would be a good Constitution Day Speaker, especially in light of the important role that he played in certifying the 2020 presidential election — a decision that went against his own political interest and likely spared the nation a great deal of turmoil,” Vile said.
The Honors College is a key organizer of the event.
But some large student organizations on campus have expressed frustration at the choice.
MTSU’s Young Democratic Socialists of America, in a statement on social media, said the event will “glamorize a legally corrupt and homophobic psychopath on our campus.”
“The justification to bring Mike Pence on campus during Constitution Week likely stems from an admiration of his refusal to falsely certify former President Donald Trump as the victor of the 2020 election,” the group said. “While he certainly made the appropriate choice, one instance of doing the bare minimum to preserve our pseudo-democratic system does not automatically make him some enlightened beacon of democratic principles.”
MTLAMBDA, the school’s largest LGBTQ+ organization, also condemned the event in a social media statement, detailing a number of anti-LGBTQ+ positions Pence has taken over the years and calling him an “infamous queerphobe” and “a danger to democracy.”
“He is the exact kind of person that the American Democracy Project has consistently fought against in their campaign to establish a polling place on campus,” the statement said. “ADP’s decision to bring Pence to campus was incredibly naïve at best and downright insidious at worst, and Lambda condemns this decision.”
In July, MTSU received a “green light” rating for free speech protections from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, one of 68 universities nationwide to achieve the highest rating offered.
The school had previously been ranked as “yellow light” school in January 2024, but improved due to a number of clarified free speech policies.
The USA TODAY Network – Tennessee’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ex-VP Mike Pence’s invite to speak at MTSU prompts student pushback
