National Free Speech News & Commentary

Greg Lukianoff
The Eternally Radical Idea

Excerpt: Two things became inevitable after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump: Some people who don’t like Trump would make edgy social media posts about it, and some people who have chafed under Cancel Culture in left-leaning spaces for the last decade would call for cancellations in response. Just as with censorship more broadly, too many folks hate it when it’s done to them but can’t wait to do it to others once they have the chance.

Rana Jaleel and Todd Wolfson
Chronicle of Higher Education

Excerpt: Since its founding, in 1915, the American Association of University Professors has been the most prominent guardian of academic freedom for faculty members and students, defending that freedom against threats that range from political interference in higher education to the exploitation of contingent academic labor. Yet the former AAUP president Cary Nelson alleges that the AAUP has somehow destroyed its “hundred-year defense of academic freedom” with a single act: the adoption of its recent “Statement on Academic Boycotts.” Others, like Jeffrey Sachs, lament that they are “not quite certain what the policy means” and that, “even worse, the AAUP doesn’t seem to know either.” The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has reiterated its opposition to academic boycotts as “a threat to academic freedom.”

The Editorial Board
Wall Street Journal

Excerpt: Another day, another Biden Administration regulation, and another loss in federal court. This time it’s the Education Department’s 1,577-page rule on Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld lower judges who stayed the regulation and, despite quibbles by four Justices, all nine seem to believe the rule is an overreach.

Bret Stephens
New York Times

Excerpt: As college students return to campus, this is what I hope a university president might say to them about how their school intends to handle future protests.

Virginia King
The College Fix

Excerpt: An open letter that opposes the American Association of University Professors’ new position to support academic boycotts quickly gained over 1,000 signatures from scholars and faculty upset by the recent decision.

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Ron Krebs and Cary Nelson
Petition

On Friday, August 9, 2024, the American Association of University Professors, which has long eloquently defended the core principle of academic freedom, reversed course and declared academic boycotts legitimate.

We believe the AAUP’s new position is wrong-headed and dangerous. We cannot safeguard academic freedom by violating academic freedom. Normalizing academic boycotts poses a profound threat to academic freedom.