Institutional Governance & Accountability

By Ann Atkinson
Wall Street Journal

Excerpt: Beneath ASU’s written commitment to intellectual diversity lies a deep hostility toward divergent views. The latest trouble started in February when the Lewis Center hosted Robert Kiyosaki, Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk for an event on “Health, Wealth, and Happiness.” This nonpartisan program was part of a popular speaker series focused on connecting students with professionals who can offer career and life advice.

By Jonathan Nicastro
National Review

Excerpt: The outgoing and incoming presidents of Dartmouth College, Phil Hanlon and Sian Beilock, respectively, recently published a robust defense of free speech in the Boston Globe. Not only do Beilock and Hanlon dismiss the silencing of people for supposedly harmful opinions as illegitimate, but they also explicitly recognize the self-censorship of conservative students in “today’s left-leaning higher education landscape.”

By The Editorial Board
Wall Street Journal

Excerpt: A Fourth Circuit majority [ruled] that Virginia Tech's bias response team does not have a chilling effect on free speech. The ruling, written by Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, a Clinton appointee, states: "[T]he First Amendment does not stand in the way of modest efforts to encourage civility on college campuses." Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Reagan appointee, wrote in dissent: "The stark reality of the record is that programs like the Bias Intervention and Response Team are being used in the service of discouraging that open inquiry from which education draws its very meaning and sustenance.”

By Robert McCoy
The Daily Beast

Excerpt: This year, graduating CUNY Law student Fatima Mohammed was elected by her peers to speak at her school’s commencement ceremony. Taking the stage during the May 12 ceremony, at a school that enjoys a reputation for social justice, Mohammed used her platform to speak about her class’ experiences and a number of political issues.

By Emma Camp
Reason Magazine

Excerpt: On Tuesday, conservative activist and New College of Florida trustee Christopher Rufo announced that the college had declined to renew a visiting professor's contract because of his purportedly "left-wing" views.

By Ava Menkes
Daily Cardinal

Excerpt: A conundrum emerged across UW System campuses following the release of the Student Views on Freedom of Speech survey conducted in the fall of 2022.