National Free Speech News & Commentary

James Huffman
Minding the Campus

Excerpt: The scene was deeply troubling. Hundreds of college students proclaimed that Hamas’ October 7, 2023, assault on Israeli civilians was a heroic and justified act of liberation. It confirmed a level of ignorance engendered by decades of decay in our colleges and universities. But equally troubling is the fact that the United States Congress immediately intervened. If there is any social institution, along with religion, that should be insulated from political meddling, it is higher education.

Vanderbilt University News

Excerpt: Jonathan Rauch, a distinguished Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution, will visit Vanderbilt as an Open Dialogue Visiting Fellow for a discussion on Jan. 22. The event, “Why Free Speech Is the Only Safe Space for Minorities,” promises a thought-provoking exploration of the crucial role free speech plays in safeguarding the interests of minorities and fostering inclusivity and understanding within society.

Joshua T. Katz
AEI

Excerpt: Do we really need another opinion piece about the resignation of Claudine Gay? The Harvard train wreck has transfixed the nation since early October, and even as the punditry piles up, the gulf seems to be widening between those who excoriate Gay, the Harvard Corporation, and the university generally and those who praise Gay as a martyr and defend the practices of the institution she led.

Few people, however, have said nice things about the Harvard Corporation, and one lesson to learn from the New York Times exposé into this secretive body’s quick, behind-the-scenes shift from expressing confidence in Gay’s presidency to pushing her out is that the public pressure of punditry can work.

Walter M. Kimbrough
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: The past three months have been interesting for higher education. The Hamas attack; the protests on college campuses and elsewhere; the high-profile congressional hearing where three inexperienced presidents faced withering, partisan attacks; and now the resignation of two of three of those presidents.

While there has been plenty of commentary about the backlash against Gay, the ensuring plagiarism allegations and her resignation last week from the Harvard presidency, I have been wrestling with a broader idea. What was the context?

Jasmine N. Wynn
The Crimson

Excerpt: Over the past few months, Harvard has routinely made national headlines, often alongside one name: Bill A. Ackman ’88. The billionaire has captured the public imagination since Oct. 10, when he fired off the beginning of an inflammatory series of X posts criticizing Harvard’s handling of antisemitism.

Ackman’s posts, made undoubtedly in bad faith, fueled already virulent retaliation faced by pro-Palestinian student activists. These students, who faced doxxing and harassment, were largely Black and brown. Ackman has repeatedly abused his influence to intimidate those with significantly less power.

Ryan Quinn
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: The Modern Language Association’s Delegate Assembly passed an “emergency motion” Saturday defending college and university employees and students who are facing threats, harassment and violence for criticizing Israel’s violence against Palestinians.

The weekend-long MLA Annual Convention included multiple panels that discussed the war in Gaza. A Friday open hearing ahead of the Delegate Assembly featured heated debate on the motion that ultimately passed, along with a different one that would’ve broadly supported “academic freedom and free expression” without mentioning either Palestine or Israel.