Binghamton University students got a chance to speak their minds and flaunt their First Amendment rights through a megaphone on Monday.

The BU College Libertarians hosted a Freedom of Speech Contest, an SA-chartered event that took place from 10:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at a table outside of the New University Union.

According to Mark Dello Stritto, co-president of the College Libertarians, the contest is meant to celebrate the rights given to Americans by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

“Contestants [got] about 30 seconds to a minute to come and speak their mind,” Dello Stritto said. “Each contestant will be judged on how close they get to expressing themselves under the First Amendment.”

During the course of the event, many students on campus came by the table to express themselves through the megaphone.

Topics discussed during the contest included BU President Lois DeFleur, the Bearcats men’s basketball team, Baxter the Bearcat, oatmeal cookies, the legalization of acid, Shakespeare, Greek life and the H1N1 vaccination.

Sophomore Ariel Levin-Waldman expressed his concerns about his rights to speak freely.

“Enemies overseas seek the destruction of our way of life. Extremists from within and without seek our blood, and yet they are not the greatest threats to our country,” he said. “Our most fundamental right, our freedom of speech, is under constant assault in the name of political correctness … and the desire not to offend. This is the greatest threat to our country because this freedom is our country.”

Sam Sussman, a freshman philosophy, politics and law major who gave a speech in Washington, D.C. earlier this month promoting equal rights of who can marry, spoke about similar struggles at the event.

“What we need in the United States is love, and compassion and understanding between fellow human beings,” he said. “In this campus, in this state and across this nation we are engaged in a great struggle for the civil rights of our fellow Americans.”

By the contest’s end, approximately 70 students had volunteered to speak, according to Arkadiy “David” Aloyts, the other co-president of the group.

Mike Riconda, a junior anthropology major, was one of the individuals who decided to speak at the contest.

“I like [the Freedom of Speech Contest], more people on campus should get involved in this sort of event,” he said, “The megaphone is a little nerve-racking but it was definitely worth it.”

The College Libertarian members made various attempts to get a rise out of passing students to entice them to speak up.

To accomplish this, organization members played devil’s advocate on many controversial issues, including scientology, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Fox News, global warming and gay rights.

Jessi Klein, a junior English major, was one of the many students who passed by the table, but did not speak into the megaphone.

“I think it is good to have events like this,” she said. “It’s kind of amusing, but at the same time it’s an effective way to get people to think about speaking out.”

According to Aloyts, videos of the contestants speaking will be uploaded to YouTube.

“The judges will decide the winner based on how the statement is said, so originality of representing the first amendment plays a big role in winning,” Aloyts said. “All the videos [were] recorded at the discretion of the student being filmed. If someone [didn’t] want to be filmed or would not like to be on [YouTube] we, of course, would follow their request.”

The grand prize winner of the contest will receive the megaphone that was used throughout the course of the contest itself.

Dello Stritto said the winner will be determined at the group’s meeting on Wednesday.

After the judging, the winning “rant” will also be featured in the Binghamton Review, said Dello Stritto.