ACTA’s new guide for higher education trustees, Guarding the Freedom to Speak, Freedom to Hear by Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm of the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, provides best practices to boards of trustees for securing intellectual freedom on the American college campus. It couldn’t have come a moment too soon. Since 2016 a growing number of students have indicated that hateful speech—despite its legal protections—should be prohibited. And in a recent Gallup/Knight Foundation report, 53% of students surveyed believe that diversity is more important than free speech. The guide informs trustees on the legal and ethical norms regarding the “heckler’s veto” and disinvitations of controversial speakers and offers clear solutions on how to cultivate a campus climate that encourages free expression.
Higher education continues to grapple with issues surrounding free expression within the academy—and the actions that protect or degrade it. From colleges and universities that adopt the Chicago Principles for freedom of expression, to those that enforce “safe spaces” and speech codes on campus, there is a tug of war over the safeguarding of viewpoint diversity […]
Freedom of expression is imperiled on today’s college campuses. Citizens and educators alike are concerned about the number of shout-downs and disinvitations and their silencing effect on intellectual diversity. The use of speech codes, “safe spaces,” new rules demanding “trigger warnings,” and condemning “micro-aggressions” raises the specter of some new and unforeseen force in our history, […]
Polarizing political beliefs are nothing new on campus, but the tactics employed by supporters of the BDS movement create new cause for concern, from the politicization of curricula and academic associations to efforts to silence Israeli speakers to overtly anti-Semitic behavior on campus. In a new essay, ACTA renews its call for the protection of […]
The Mississippi House of Representatives adopted a bill today to protect the rights of college students to speak freely about the causes and issues they hold dear. The bill codifies existing federal case law for the state of Mississippi to avoid expensive litigation for public universities and colleges. “The last place on earth we should […]
Free speech advocates were enraged when Middlebury College students in 2017 drowned out a planned talk by the author Charles Murray, whose writings many consider racist. The students’ chants prevented Murray from speaking. Some protesters surrounded and jumped on his car after he was ushered out of the lecture hall. Conservative lawmakers, academics and other observers pointed to that […]
Common gumption would dictate that colleges and universities foster environments that promote “free and open inquiry in all matters,” and guarantee “the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.” Too many higher education administrators today, however, are afraid to endorse such principles, principles clearly articulated in what is known as the “Chicago Statement.” These […]
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