About the editor: Nico Perrino’s article admonishing liberal students for disrupting college campus events where conservative figures have been invited to speak ignores the reality of how conservative value systems dominate everyday life in this country.

Perrino, executive vice president of a conservative think tank, has to wonder how much cultural conservatism shapes students’ experiences at home, at work, on social media, and in the public sphere in general.

The Republican and Conservative sororities that invite speakers like Ann Coulter have ideas that already dominate the realities of life across the country, but treat their relative minority on a few acres of campus land as a microcosm of America

Second, prominent conservative figures elsewhere give a plethora of paid speeches; for them to be shouted down in an arena is a bite on the back of public discourse as a whole.

Third, conservative campus groups routinely elect the most obnoxious representatives possible, people whose audiences would be small without the presence of their opponents.

If he wants to see his “proper” form of free speech in action, why not focus Perrino on the day-to-day interactions between liberal and conservative students?

Matt Neel, Sherman Oaks..

About the editor: Perrino makes good points in his defense of free speech and against the Heckler veto, but some points need clarification.

Too many left see protest as a sacred ritual that excludes any unjustified disclaimer. For example, the “Tennessee Three” is evacuated because there was no material damage. Everything is peaceful protest, or at least mostly peaceful. Demonstrators are convinced of their virtue and correct belief.

But protests always force people to listen. In fact, peaceful protest is almost an oxymoron, as disruption is inevitable. The holy grail in a democracy is not the protest, but the ballot box.

You have freedom of speech about your own time and penny. In other words, you cannot hijack someone’s opportunity or place. Employees and students are not allowed to use a university event or promotion or anything else for their own purposes. You get a pass to speak, be it political or for profit.

Each event has an organizer who sets the rules. Authorities should never hesitate to enforce these rules.

William N. Hoke, Manhattan Beach