National Free Speech News & Commentary

Kate Hidalgo Bellows and Jasper Smith
Chronicle of Higher Education

Excerpt: Faculty members at Columbia University say they disagree with a pro-Palestinian student group’s recent endorsement of violence, but some support the group’s right to express that sentiment.

On October 8, Columbia University Apartheid Divest — or CUAD — revoked an apology it made in the spring on behalf of a student activist who posted a video of himself saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live” and “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.” The group, an unrecognized coalition of student organizations, said in last week’s statement that the apology was written by several organizers, not the student, and did not represent the group’s values.

Robert Shibley
FIRE

Excerpt: This week, the American Association of University Professors gave its blessing to mandatory “diversity statements” in hiring — as long as the faculty votes for them first. FIRE has long argued that such statements can too easily function as ideological litmus tests and has repeatedly warned against them.

The AAUP’s new statement on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Criteria for Faculty Evaluation” marks yet another departure from the organization’s roots as a stalwart protector of faculty members’ right to dissent from the orthodoxies of the day, whatever those might be.

Abigail Anthony
National Review

Excerpt: In early September, Harvard University announced changes to its “doxing” policies, stating that “doxing occurs . . . when a community member publicly shares an individual’s personal information without their permission with the intention and effect of intense harassment.” Unfortunately, the new guidelines provide yet another avenue to censor speech on campus by establishing a framework for a hypersensitive student to punish a university member who publicly stated what that student had done.

Eboo Patel
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Bravo to the University of Chicago for its $100 million gift in support of free speech. The donation, which comes from an anonymous source, will strengthen the university’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, allowing it to expand quintessential college programs like fellowships and conferences.

You can of course say that these efforts ultimately benefit truth seeking, and I do believe that involving people with a range of identities in philosophical discussions or laboratory experiments results in stronger ideas emerging. But there are other social goals being accomplished as well, including cooperation across difference and social mobility. Why not name a telos that captures all of this?

Kali Jerrard
National Association of Scholars

Excerpt: Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of Hamas’ invasion of Israel and in the course of the past year, world politics and higher education have irrevocably changed.

While campus protests began anew this semester and pro-Israel professors face cancelation there is a small glimmer of hope. This past year has refocused the efforts of policymakers to right the ship. Moreover, we have seen what can happen when college administrators show real courage and stand up to the mob. Such examples should be reproduced elsewhere. Our colleges and universities may, after all, find a path back to the principles that once made them world class. Here’s hoping.

Abigail Anthony
National Review

Excerpt: Four Harvard University student organizations released a joint statement on Monday denouncing the university and further claiming that the October 7 attacks on Israel showed “apartheid cannot stand.”

“One year ago today, Gaza broke through Israel's blockade, showing the world that the ongoing Nakba and apartheid cannot stand,” reads the statement released on October 7. “Every day since, the Israeli regime has escalated its 76-year-long occupation into a now 365-day-long genocide.”