A snowy view of Susquehanna University’s Degenstein Campus Center. Photo courtesy of Susquehanna University on Facebook.
SELINSGROVE — “It’s the small actions that we take that make history” — those are the words of free speech advocate Mary Beth Tinker. She made history as a teenager in the 1960’s, when she wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War.
“We were just saying that we were sad about the Vietnam War. As kids have all throughout history, we wanted to speak up. We wanted to say something about this and express our feelings about it,” Tinker said. “I had no idea that that very small action would lead to such big results. As I tell students as I travel around the country, I actually found out that that is what makes history — the small actions that we take.”
After being suspended, Tinker’s family sued the school district on First Amendment grounds. In 1969 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
“Young people have so many wonderful qualities and so much to contribute, but in order to do that they need to have some rights. They need to be able to, not only learn about democracy in school, but actually practice it in their lives. When they don’t get that chance, we are all cheated. The whole world is cheated if we don’t get all of their ideas and their innovations and their energy.”
Tinker is speaking at Susquehanna University this evening at 6:30p.m. in Isaacs Auditorium, Seibert Hall. The speech is free and open to the public. (Codi Jade)