Trustee Responsibility Free Speech

Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, Andrew Lowenthal, and Leighton Woodhouse
Public, Substack

Excerpt: In March of this year, two of us, Matt and Michael, testified to Congress about the existence of a Censorship Industrial Complex comprised of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and Big Tech companies working together to suppress disfavored views and disfavored people.

Now, a group of 138 scholars, public intellectuals, and journalists from across the political spectrum have issued a strong call warning the public of the Censorship Industrial Complex and urging governments to dismantle it in the name of the “first liberty,” freedom of speech. It’s called The Westminster Declaration.

Lauren Noble
National Review

Excerpt: Even at Yale, it is not every day that a faculty member expresses “solidarity” — and apparent glee — over the murder, rape, and kidnapping of civilians. So it did not go unnoticed when, as Israel was reeling from the deadliest terror attack in its history, associate professor Zareena Grewal proclaimed on X that “Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle” against a “genocidal settler state.” She also circulated a video of the onslaught captioned, “It’s been such an extraordinary day!”

Over 50,000 people subsequently signed a petition calling on Yale to fire Grewal for her support of terrorism. The university responded quickly, declining to discipline Grewal based on its commitment to freedom of speech. Anyone who has followed headlines about Yale over the past decade may be understandably surprised to learn that the university has such principles.

Sara Weissman
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Five professors laid off by the County College of Morris in New Jersey two years ago may be poised to get their jobs back after a state hearing examiner recently issued a scathing ruling concluding that their layoffs were a retaliatory move related to their union activities.

Yascha Mounk
Persuasion

Excerpt: On October 7th, the world witnessed the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. Many people, of all faiths and convictions, have recognized the enormity of these crimes. Numerous world leaders denounced the terrorist attacks in clear language. Private citizens shared their grief on social media. Millions mourned. But despite the outpouring of support, there has also been a large contingent of people and organizations who stayed uncharacteristically silent—or went so far as to celebrate the carnage.

Some of the most famous universities in the world—including Princeton, Yale and Stanford—only released statements after they came under intense pressure on social media.

Nathan Goetting
Discourse

Excerpt: The current academic free speech crisis stems from two causes. The first is that free speech principles are unnatural and counterintuitive. This has always been the case and, given human nature, always will be. The second, addressed in the next article in this series, is that now young people are exhorting—demanding, even—that older generations use a heavy censorial hand to promote social and political goals. This is unprecedented in our history and, without immediate and significant action, may prove ruinous to the mission of higher education.

Greg Lukianoff
New York Post

Excerpt: One of the strangest things about fighting cancel culture is the stubborn claim that it doesn’t even exist. But 22 years of combatting censorship on college campuses has shown me that cancel culture is very real, and can even be deadly. And contrary to what deniers claim, the impact of cancel culture on individuals is often profound.

Just this year Richard Bilkszto, principal of Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute and Adult Learning Centre in Canada, committed suicide after a run-in with a diversity trainer in Toronto cost him his job, his friends, and his good standing.