Commentary: In Defense of Free Speech and the Mission of the University

February 28, 2024 1 min read

3 Comments

Robert P. George
Public Discourse, Witherspoon Institute

Excerpt: My friend and former student Yoram Hazony has argued in Public Discourse that it’s time for universities to abandon any commitment to “absolute free speech.” In light of rampant expressions of anti-Semitism on university campuses since the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, Yoram thinks universities should forbid and punish the expression or advocacy of certain ideas or positions by students and faculty, and “suspend” or “terminate” those who, for example, advocate genocide.

Yoram suggests that I and others—especially my friend Jonathan Haidt—have been “reduced” to defending a “fundamentally wrongheaded” pro–free speech view. Here I will explain why I persist in believing that the research and teaching missions of nonsectarian colleges and universities, such as the one at which Yoram was a student and at which I teach, are best served by the most robust commitment to freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression.

Click here for link to full article

3 Responses

carenewsweb
carenewsweb

March 12, 2024

Agreed. Free speech must not be limited in the academy. Ideas, all ideas, no matter how evil they may appear to some, should be free to be openly debated wherever questions, not answers, are cherished. https://carenewsweb.com/heart-evangelista-and-her-glam-team-controversy-unveiled/

carenewsweb
carenewsweb

March 12, 2024

https://carenewsweb.com/heart-evangelista-and-her-glam-team-controversy-unveiled/

Ron Innerfield
Ron Innerfield

March 02, 2024

Agreed. Free speech must not be limited in the academy. Ideas, all ideas, no matter how evil they may appear to some, should be free to be openly debated wherever questions, not answers, are cherished.

Leave a comment


Also in Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

CitiBank tried to silence me for protest. We won’t let Princeton do the same.

October 20, 2024 1 min read

John Mark Rozendaal
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: It was a beautiful, rainy morning in August. I began to play a soulful slow dance by J.S. Bach on a $200 cello in front of Citibank’s international headquarters. Shielded by rainbow colored umbrellas, I was encircled by 12 brave cellist protectors with linked arms, dozens of fellow climate activists, and scores of New York’s “finest” deployed in riot gear.
Read More
Princeton community shares mixed reactions on decision to keep Witherspoon statue

October 20, 2024 1 min read

Sena Chang
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: On Oct. 2, the Princeton University Board of Trustees announced in a letter that John Witherspoon’s statue would remain on campus. The decision came after an extensive review process that began in November 2022 by the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) Committee on Naming.
Read More
Tigers for Israel, Chabad art installation raises questions about U. policy on symbolic structures

October 12, 2024 1 min read

Miriam Waldvogel
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: An art installation on Wednesday, Oct. 8 sponsored by Tigers for Israel (TFI) and Chabad House on the Frist North Lawn, which was meant to draw awareness to the Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, may be the first test case of the University’s policy on symbolic structures following last spring’s ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment.’
Read More