The First Amendment: “'Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride”
Woke disruptors should be mindful of what they may agree to when attending events.

Did you know that the First Amendment also recognizes the right to exclude persons or groups who disrupt or hijack private events? Anyone who attends a Taylor Swift concert or a Ladies PGA tournament must agree to such terms; this includes free tickets as well.

The U.S. Supreme Court established this right in Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc. (1995). A group wished to join a St. Patrick's Day Parade, piggybacking the event to advance their own agenda. The parade sponsor refused to allow them to join. SCOTUS upheld the sponsor's ban on the outside group. Clearly, the First Amendment freedom of association carries a balancing right for event sponsors to exclude persons intent on violating their event theme or purpose.

Thus, a 'free' ticket is a contract, a conditional easement, not just a gate pass. Perhaps W&L student organization sponsors should use contractual ticket terms to require civil discourse rules of conduct and punish economic loss of event value. Sponsoring student groups should enforce these rules without interference from the school. This would go a long way to prevent planned or individual disruption of events, which often entail months of planning and costs topping $30,000 to bring national speakers to campus.

To all those woke students, faculty and outside attendees planning event disruption for the upcoming Matt Walsh event — or any future event —  take note: when you order a ticket, you might just be agreeing to enforceable rules of conduct, carrying violation penalties far beyond mere ejection from the premises. So, as H. S. Thompson wrote: "Buy the ticket, take the ride."

The opinions expressed in this magazine are the author's own and do not reflect the official policy or position of The Spectator, or any students or other contributors associated with the magazine. It is the intention of The Spectator to promote student thought and civil discourse, and it is our hope to maintain that civility in all discussions.