National Free Speech News & Commentary

James Freeman
Wall Street Journal

Excerpt: Observing unhinged campus reactions to Saturday’s murderous barbarity, some commenters on social media have been recalling William F. Buckley, Jr.’s opinion that he would rather be governed by the first series of names in a telephone directory than by the faculty of Harvard. Certainly one must be extremely wary of consenting to be governed by Harvard students. But not all of their instructors would necessarily oppress us.

Jonathan Turley
Jonathan Turley’s Blog

Excerpt: Universities and colleges across the country have become embroiled in a debate over free speech in the aftermath of the massacre of Israelis by Hamas terrorists this week. Various student groups have expressed support for Hamas or their cause while condemning Israel. Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapters have even shown the image below of one of the terrorists who paraglided into Israel where hundreds of civilians were murdered, including babies.

Harvard has been a particular flashpoint over strident statements of condemnation of Israel immediately after the attack. The support has led to at least one firm rescinding an offer to a pro-Palestinian NYU law student as well as calls for universities to cut off support for student groups condemning Israel.

Melanie Wilcox
Campus Reform

Excerpt: Penn State University canceled Riley Gaines’ speech that was supposed to occur Tuesday, Oct. 10, just a month after president Neeli Bendapudi said that the school was “bound by the First Amendment.”

Germania Rodriguez Poleo
Dailymail.com

Harvard President Emeritus Larry Summers says he is 'sickened' by Ivy League school's response to attacks on Israel after 31 organizations said the country was 'entirely responsible'
Harvard's President Emeritus Larry Summers has said he is 'sickened' by the Ivy League school's response to Hamas' terror attack on Israel after 31 organizations claimed the Jewish nation was 'entirely responsible'. Summers, who is Jewish and led Harvard University from 2001-2006, reacted to the prestigious school's lack of official response to the atrocity, as well as to a letter claiming Hamas' attacks  'did not happen in a vacuum. . . . We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,' the groups wrote.

Summers, who also served in the Obama administration, addressed the school, tweeting: '"In nearly 50 years of affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today. The silence from Harvard's leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups' statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel."

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities AAUP Chapter
Academe Blog

Excerpt: The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) deplores Hamline University leadership’s continued misrepresentation of its 2022 violation of the principle of academic freedom.  

Unfortunately, Hamline administrators have failed to learn from their mishandling of this case; rather than recommit to the principle of academic freedom, they have affirmed their disregard for it.

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.