Forty students are geared up to take their case for more free speech rights to Iowa State administrators Thursday.

Although members of The Second Wave, a student organization formed to defend the First Amendment, received administrative permission to hold a rally on the steps of Beardshear Hall Thursday, they have decided to cancel the event in order to concentrate on the meeting.

“Because we do not want to sabotage what we hope to be good-faith efforts on the part of President [Martin] Jischke and the administration, we are withdrawing our request for a rally at this time,” said Louise Libby, president of the Graduate English Association and member of The Second Wave.

“The rally was called off because it would have been a conflict of interest,” said Ryan Sievers.

Sievers is the spokesman for another new student group, the Coalition for Under-Represented Voices, or CURV. “We don’t want to be counterproductive by having a rally that was originally intended to get the administration’s attention when they have already agreed to meet with us,” he said.

The group will bring a “professional mediator” from the Center for Creative Justice in Des Moines to the meeting, said Lisa Hermsen, a spokeswoman for The Second Wave.

Hermsen said The Second Wave has not told Jischke about the mediator. But the president has said the group could bring anyone into the meeting to facilitate discussion, Hermsen said.

Hermsen said officials are encouraging students to engage in “random acts of free speech” in place of the rally by sending e-mail or writing to Jischke or Dean of Students Kathleen MacKay about free-speech concerns.

Thursday’s meeting between CURV and administrators will include a plea to Jischke for improved representation of minority individuals on campus.

Jischke agreed to meet with members of The Second Wave, Black Student Alliance, Asian Pacific American Awareness Coalition, Lesbian, Bay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance and People Understanding Disabilities on Thursday in a Beardshear Hall conference room.

CURV officials plan to deliver letters from various organizations to Jischke during the meeting. The letters explain needs and concerns of the individual groups and various requests.

CURV officials will also give a general presentation to administrators. Two members from each campus organization will represent CURV, but several others, including members of the press, will be invited to the meeting, CURV officials said.

“In the beginning, The Second Wave will speak about time, place and manner, and what that means in terms of restricting freedom of speech,” Sievers said. “Louise Libby will then request President Jischke sit down with members of CURV to take place in good-faith discussions about issues for under-represented students.”

Getting involved

After Thursday’s meeting, Sievers and other members of CURV said they hope students will get involved.

“Every student will be invited to take part in future meetings and discussions,” Sievers said.

Another way for students to show support, Hermsen said, is to attend the “Dialogue and Difference” symposium that will be held in the Memorial Union Thursday from 9:30 a.m. until noon.

“It’s really a basic issue of freedom of speech,” Sievers said. “We pay the university money; we want the university to represent our views.”