National Free Speech News & Commentary

Annabelle Timsit
Washington Post

Excerpt: A federal judge in Arkansas temporarily blocked a state law that would have made it a crime for librarians and booksellers to give minors materials deemed “harmful” to them — a move celebrated by free-speech advocates, who had decried the law as a violation of individual liberties.

Section 1 would have made it a criminal offense to knowingly provide a minor with any material deemed “harmful” — a term defined by state law as containing nudity or sexual content, appealing to a “prurient interest in sex,” lacking “serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors” or deemed “inappropriate for minors” under current community standards.

Mitch Daniels
Washington Post

Excerpt: Surveys of those entering college almost invariably report that the No. 1 reason given for enrolling is to increase their earning potential — in other words, to become prepared for success in the world of work. Though that is clearly happening for many, the coddling culture that has grown up at too many schools might actually be setting some young people back instead of readying them to launch the careers to which they aspire.

Benjamin Rothove
College Fix

Excerpt: The University of Michigan announced a new initiative to “enhance inclusion and equity across the biomedical and health sciences community,” which includes hiring 30 new professors. With a $15.8 million investment from the National Institutes of Health and a $63.7 million investment from the University of Michigan, the Michigan Program for Advancing Cultural Transformation will “bolster U-M’s diverse academic environment by hiring tenure-track faculty with a demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion.”

University of Michigan spokesman Rick Fitzgerald declined to answer a College Fix inquiry about how the program would respect academic freedom and if it was only open to racial minorities.

Graham Piro
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Excerpt: The University of California San Diego’s decision to charge a large number of students who allegedly disrupted a campus event in May – charges that have swept up students who say they weren’t even present at the event – raises significant concerns about the university’s fealty to its constitutional obligations.

James Huffman
Quillette

Excerpt: Efforts to censure campus speech have occurred in almost every American state. The problem is not new. Advocates of academic censorship would do well to review the arguments of our predecessors. A little book published 74 years ago, in 1949, by Harvard University Press provides an opportunity to do just that. While the book focuses on American history, its insights are of worldwide relevance.

Maya Bodnick
Slow Boring, Substack

Excerpt: Every year, hundreds of thousands of students around the U.S. participate in competitive debate. Most start competing at a young age (early high school or even middle school), eager to learn about politics. At its best, the activity teaches students how to think critically about the government and the trade-offs that policymakers face. They are assigned to argue for different positions that they may not agree with and engage with their peers’ diverse perspectives.

Instead of expanding students’ worldviews, debate has increasingly narrowed to become a microcosm of critical theory. These critical theory arguments, known as kritiks, are usually wielded by the negation side to criticize the fundamental assumptions of their affirmation side opponents.