Supporting Students Free Expression

Eli Meyerhoff and Isaac Kamola
Academe Blog

Excerpt: Today, attacks on academic freedom originate from state houses, governors’ offices, partisan political organizations, think tanks, and online trolls. This multi-pronged attack on academic freedom requires a mass political—rather than a merely individual, institutional, or procedural—response.

We question whether the language of academic freedom provides the strongest framework for a successful mass defense against this political onslaught. We suggest that an alternative, complementary principle, “freedom to learn,” offers a more widely resonant rallying cry.

Greg Childress
NC Newsline

Excerpt: America’s educators must not cower before lawmakers attempting to restrict what they teach students about America’s racial history, author and education reformer Lisa Delpit told hundreds of teachers attending the annual Color of Education summit in Raleigh on Saturday.

Delpit, the author of the groundbreaking book, “Multiplication Is for White People” said teachers must engage in the kind of “fugitive pedagogy” that educators used during the Jim Crow era to get around mandated curricula that hid the truth about America’s racist past and the enormous contributions Black people have made to the nation.

Jonathan Turley
Jonathan Turley's Blog

Excerpt: We have been following the gradual elimination of common terms deemed offensive or microaggressive. The latest is the word “picnic.” After the University of Nevada Las Vegas law school’s Environmental Law Society announced a picnic, it was renamed “Lunch by the Lake” due to “diversity and inclusion” concerns.

The ELS was able to avoid a second correction with a “Lunch in the Field” since “field” has also been found to be offensive at other schools. According to a memo, the law group informed members that the word “picnic” has “historical and offensive connotations,” and apologized for “any harm or discomfort” caused by its use. That is consistent with the view of  the University of Michigan’s IT department in finding that “Picnic” was an offensive word.

Ariana Figueroa
NC Newsline

Excerpt: One of Thomasina Brown’s favorite books is a memoir about a girl who deals with the grief of losing her father and struggles with her sexual identity. Brown, a 16-year-old student at Nixa High School in Nixa, Missouri, said in an interview that she felt a connection with the book, as she grieved the loss of her own father and came to terms with her own queer identity.

That book, “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic,” is one of the more than 3,300 books that have been banned during the 2022-2023 school year, a 33% increase from the previous school year, according to a report by PEN America, a group that is dedicated to fighting book bans and advocates for the First Amendment.

Roger Ream
National Review

Excerpt: Once a place for the open exchange of ideas and honest debate, many U.S. college campuses no longer tolerate dissenting views expressed by students and professors.

This phenomenon, which has allowed dogma and ideology to supplant the search for truth, has taken root in college lecture halls, student governments, and campus newspapers. The trend has major implications for American life, as today’s students become tomorrow’s leaders. Its effects may be most clearly felt in a profession historically associated with reporting the facts and promoting diversity of opinion: American journalism. If unchecked, it will have both short- and long-term repercussions not just for future journalists but for the American experiment as a whole.

Max Blaisdell
Hyde Park Herald

Excerpt: Amid a wave of book bans around the country and a surge in white supremacist propaganda in Illinois, the University of Chicago is launching a new forum to promote free speech and encourage open debate.

The Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression will debut this week with a series of on-campus panels featuring a number of scholars, artists and political figures in conversation on a variety of controversial social and political topics. Taking place on Thursday, Oct. 5 and Friday, panels will include Chicago’s Amanda Williams, Cathy Cohen and David Axelrod.