As a college professor, I’m really embarassed by some of the things going on in higher education. A recent piece in The Wall Street Journal illustrates one key reason for my discomfort.
“How Free Speech Died on Campus” tells of Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and his attempts to fight for free speech on college campuses. It’s amazing and discouraging to realize that universities have become the most authoritarian institutions in America
The author of the piece, Sohrab Ahmari, starts by giving a recent example of a college attempting to limit free speech. President Joseph McShane scolded College Republicans for the sin of inviting Ann Coulter to speak.
"To say that I am disappointed with the judgment and maturity of the College Republicans . . . would be a tremendous understatement," McShane said in a Nov. 9 statement condemning the club's invitation to the caustic conservative pundit. He vowed to "hold out great contempt for anyone who would intentionally inflict pain on another human being because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or creed."
It’s true that McShane didn't block Ms. Coulter's speech, but he said that her presence would serve as a "test" for Fordham. A day later, cowed by this threat, the students disinvited Ms. Coulter. McShane then praised them for having taken "responsibility for their decisions" and expressing "their regrets sincerely and eloquently." How's that for thought police and indoctrination therapy?
Lukianoff is disgusted by what took place. He says that the Fordham-Coulter affair took campus censorship to a new level: "This was the longest, strongest condemnation of a speaker that I've ever seen in which a university president also tried to claim that he was defending freedom of speech."
There’s plenty more I want to share about Lukianoff and his organization, but I’ll save it for my next blog.
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