The
President of Union College, a small private institution in New York, says he is
not a fan of free speech on the college campus.
David R.
Harris, writing for the magazine Inside Higher Ed, seemed completely
ignorant of a cavalcade of right-thinking speakers who have been shouted down
at college campuses in American over the last two years. I can’t find one
example of the same thing happening to a lefty.
Ben Shapiro,
Ann Coulter, Steve Bannon…..just a few of the conservatives who have been
denied their first amendment rights to free speech by being shouted down by
college students.
Back to the
point…and to the college president who penned the article: “A College Campus Is
Not The Place For Free Speech.” Harris defines free speech this way—
“In its
purist form, it is an exercise in what is achieved when a person yells a view
and then leaves, after which someone with an opposing perspective does the
same.”
Wow. That
might be the most tortured definition of free speech ever uttered.
Harris
contends nothing is learned from the shouting. I contend, nothing is learned
when conservatives are shouted down and only liberal-think is allowed to
prevail.
He believes in
his college’s call for evidence and reasoned thought before views are expressed.
I believe in facts too. I also believe this….Today’s college students support
free speech….unless it offends them. Then they are against it.
I prefer the
venerable quote taught to me in college-----“I disapprove of what you say, but
I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
https://www.thefire.org/resources/disinvitation-database/
ReplyDeleteTake your pick. There are a number of liberals on this list. The reason you seem to perceive more conservatives being banned is that they are more vocal about it, because it feeds into the culture war narrative.
As for your smear on Harris's article, I'll post this excerpt from his article and a link to said article, the title of which you also didn't cite correctly:
"On campuses, however, we must strive for something more than free speech. Our mission requires that we seek what I refer to as constructive engagement. It is not enough for individuals to speak freely. We must also find myriad ways to put a range of views into conversation with one another. It is what we do in classrooms every day. It is what we do on debate teams. It is what happens across every campus, far more than critics appreciate. It is what happens in the lives of college students much more frequently than in the lives of most adults, in part because college campuses and social networks tend to be more diverse than “real world” neighborhoods and social clubs.
This emphasis on constructive engagement is why, at Union College, we have launched an initiative to create the conditions for hearing and learning from diverse perspectives. One key element is an explicit and stated goal of understanding. Another is that speakers must take un-screened, sincere questions from the audience, and they are expected to respond respectfully. And finally, speakers must have evidence and reasoned arguments to support their views, given that both form the foundation upon which knowledge and wisdom rest. This is not the place to bash those who think otherwise with literal or figurative personal attacks, to privilege heat and fury over light and insight.
With this approach, and especially in the small, collegial community that is our distinctive liberal arts college, we commit to exposing our community to a range of perspectives. Success is not measured by how different the speakers’ views are from those most prevalent on the campus, but rather by the number of people who understand, and perhaps even reconsider or change their views as a result of the experience, regardless of the direction of change."
(https://www.insidehighered.com/.../president-explains-why...)
Seriously, this took no time at all. It's clear from his article that he doesn't support just FREE SPEECH. He wants something more: Actual engagement between different viewpoints, which would seem to line up directly with the quote typically attributed to Voltaire that you included.