Dem rep planning bill to define 'acceptable speech' on campus

Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md.

Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown reportedly plans to introduce a bill that would require universities and colleges to define “acceptable speech” on campus.

The Maryland congressman announced the plans during a speech last week, according to The Diamondback, the University of Maryland’s student newspaper.

Brown reportedly said he wants colleges to demonstrate they have initiatives that define to students "what is acceptable speech and what is not acceptable speech.”

Further, the bill reportedly would offer grant money to create these programs while pushing universities to report hate crimes.

The proposal comes as campuses across the country have been accused of curbing free speech in some cases, by shutting down or discouraging conservative speakers.

At the same time, legislators have tried to ease racial unrest in the wake of the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a counter-protester was killed in a car attack.

In Maryland, the event at which Brown spoke reportedly was organized after the fatal stabbing of a Bowie State University student, who was black.