Diversity and the Death of Free Speech(spectator.org)
spectator.org
Diversity and the Death of Free Speech
https://spectator.org/diversity-and-the-death-of-free-speech/
3 comments
I've been following the free speech issue on universities for almost a year now, and I think the 2008 may be on the mark, though the first well known incident I can name is the Lawrence Summers controversy in 2005 [1].
The free speech issue is mainly a talking point of conservatives because these are the ones most impacted. Students complain about being afraid to voice their opinions for fear of being ostracized or punished on grades.
It's enlightening to read through a few issues of The College Fix [2].
Relevant interesting book is The Coddling Of The American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Luka off.
But it gets really entertaining when you watch some youtube videos on this subject, for example the great, 3-part, documentary[3] by Mike Nayna.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers
[2] https://www.thecollegefix.com/
[3] https://youtu.be/FH2WeWgcSMk
EDIT: and just after I wrote this, a research paper popped up, about army veterans going back to college and experiencing culture shock: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17475759.2019.1...
The free speech issue is mainly a talking point of conservatives because these are the ones most impacted. Students complain about being afraid to voice their opinions for fear of being ostracized or punished on grades.
It's enlightening to read through a few issues of The College Fix [2].
Relevant interesting book is The Coddling Of The American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Luka off.
But it gets really entertaining when you watch some youtube videos on this subject, for example the great, 3-part, documentary[3] by Mike Nayna.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers
[2] https://www.thecollegefix.com/
[3] https://youtu.be/FH2WeWgcSMk
EDIT: and just after I wrote this, a research paper popped up, about army veterans going back to college and experiencing culture shock: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17475759.2019.1...
As they say, conservative orthodoxy is the new punk rock.
It would be helpful if Mr Glynn put a closer bracket of dates around this. While trying to figure out if this statement is true, I came across the Wikipedia page on the "Free Speech Movement" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Movement). "Students insisted that the university administration lift the ban of on-campus political activities and acknowledge the students' right to free speech and academic freedom.". I guess "not too long ago" was after 1965, because apparently before that, it was common for college campuses to ban political speech and activity. I assume that UCB was, as always, a fore-runner, and that most campuses had such bans until much later.
I think we can all agree that "not too long ago" means some time before 2008, when Obama was elected. So we can bracket this utopia of free speech to between 1965 - 2008. Before 1965, it appears that it was typical to ban all political speech. With that bracket in mind, ask yourself if Mr Glynn's essay makes any sense at all, or if it's an exercise in wishful thinking.
I'm eager for evidence to tighten these brackets further. I vaguely recall that some campuses were considered bastions of conservatism on into the 1960s, but I can't find any references easily. I'd love to see something about that.