October 10, 2024
1 min read
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?
Read More October 08, 2024
1 min read
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.
Read More October 08, 2024
1 min read
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.”
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Jane Johnson
December 08, 2023
The comments from various representatives of the higher ed industry provide useful insights to their reactions. Some sound defensive of the three university presidents whose responses to congressional questioning are less than satisfying, but it is surely too early to predict where this episode will take us. No one really knows for sure where the dividing line is between free speech and hate speech. So right now it looks as if there may be backlash to the recent clamoring for free speech and more teeth-gnashing over hate speech. Where the middle ground may ultimately fall is anyone’s guess at this time. The 1st Amendment is a vital part of our Constitution, and it’s being severely tested at this point in our history.