{"id":2123589,"date":"2023-12-13T06:52:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T11:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-lie-at-the-heart-of-the-college-free-speech-debate-is-that-free-speech-exists-on-campus\/"},"modified":"2023-12-13T06:59:18","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T11:59:18","slug":"the-lie-at-the-heart-of-the-college-free-speech-debate-is-that-free-speech-exists-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-lie-at-the-heart-of-the-college-free-speech-debate-is-that-free-speech-exists-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"The college free-speech debate is based on a false assumption: free speech doesn’t truly exist on campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

34<\/div>SHARES<\/span><\/div>

<\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a>

Is Free Speech Really Available on College Campuses?<\/h2>\n
\n
Should universities punish students who chant genocidal slogans aimed at Jews\u200b or sign petitions blaming women\u200d and \u200cchildren \u2063for their own murders? \u200dIt\u2019s a worthwhile debate about open discourse. But don\u2019t let\u200b it obscure a \u200cmore relevant fact:\u2062 There is no free speech on campus.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Not really. Not in any way that matters. And\u2064 certainly not for those\u2063 who would dissent against the quackery of identitarianism, intersectionality,\u200c and \u201canti-colonialism\u201d \u2014 and a host of other pseudointellectual \u201c-isms\u201d that \u200dcurrently infect education.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If American campuses actually housed robust,\u2063 open discourse,\u200b these \u201celite\u201d \u2062schools wouldn\u2019t \u200bbe churning out \u2064so many moral \u2064imbeciles and\u2062 credentialed ignoramuses who detest the country and civilization that makes \u201cprotest\u201d possible. The\u200d near uniformity in outlook speaks to \u200bthe fact that dumb\u2064 ideas go \u200cunchallenged \u2063in these hermetically sealed institutions.<\/p>\n
It also goes without saying that if\u200c Harvard students were signing statements blaming black Americans for the existence of white supremacy \u2063or calling for an international Intifada\u200d against gay populations, we would already be awash in an overwrought national \u2064conversation about the\u2064 limits of free expression.<\/p>\n
Everyone\u200b knows, \u2063of course, that no such thing would\u2064 ever happen in the first place. Defending free expression when one side can monopolize debate \u200dis worse than an empty gesture.<\/p>\n
But even nominally\u2064 controversial right-of-center ideas barely have a place in these schools.\u200c Academic\u2062 freedom is a myth. Elite schools don\u2019t explicitly prohibit dissenting views. They have merely expelled, neutralized, grandfathered out, and replaced those ideas. Outside of\u200d STEM programs and perhaps a few other fields, academia is now dominated\u2063 by extremists and\u2063 quacks.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Years ago,\u2062 I can recall Colorado University making a big show of searching for a professor of\u200d \u201cconservative thought\u201d \u2014 or some such\u200d thing \u2014 by which it meant they\u200c were looking for a person to teach a set of ideas that would, in any healthy\u200d university\u200b setting, already be embedded in an array\u200b of disciplines. Even when schools ostensibly \u2064try to do\u2064 the right thing, conservatism \u2064is treated as a set of exotic notions \u2014 something akin to Zoroastrianism.<\/p>\n
And it is quite humorous watching donors act \u200clike this all\u2064 somehow snuck up on society. God and Man \u2064at Yale: The Superstitions \u200dof \u201cAcademic Freedom,\u201d<\/em> \u2062 the bestselling book that made\u2064 William Buckley famous, was \u200dpublished in 1951. The opening \u2063line of the\u200c 1987\u200c bestselling \u2063 Closing of the American Mind: How \u2064Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the \u200dSouls of \u200cToday\u2019s \u200bStudents<\/em>, by Harold Bloom, reads, \u201cThere is one thing a professor \u200ccan be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the\u2063 university believes, or says he believes, \u200dthat truth is relative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malleable truths lead academics to \u2062believe in \u200bmalleable morals, science, and history,\u2062 which\u2064 then\u2062 compels them to\u2064 contextualize<\/a> \u2064 things like genocide.\u2064 That\u2019s where we\u2019re\u200d at.<\/p>\n
Now, we\u2062 can\u2019t bore into\u2062 the souls of those suddenly \u200cand passionately interested in defending the values of free expression. But we do know most of them are nowhere to be found when the state \u200cis \u2063 setting \u2064up<\/a> Ministries \u200cof Truth or conservative \u2064speakers are being chased from campuses \u2014 \u200dor, rather,\u200c never\u2063 invited \u200dto speak,\u2064 much less teach.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Indeed, free speech is treated very much like plagiarism at places like Harvard. There are different sets \u200bof rules for different people. \u2062When a Cornell professor tells<\/a> \u200d a crowd that the \u200cwanton \u200dmurder of Jewish\u200c babies\u200d is an \u201cexhilarating and energizing\u201d\u2063 event, he has an incontrovertible right \u2063to free\u200d speech \u200cwithout consequence. \u2063When \u200dthe conservative Parkland survivor\u2019s invitation to attend Harvard gets rescinded over slurs sent in private texts\u200d written<\/a> when he was 16, not so much. This is a microcosm of the modern-day college experience.<\/p>\n
Now, none of this would matter very \u200bmuch if credentialed\u200d extremists \u2014 armed\u2064 with an impenetrable emotional certitude \u200cabout the world but little else \u2014 weren\u2019t populating our institutions of journalism, government, and academia. The biggest problem with our rotting universities\u2062 is that they still matter.<\/p>\n
It is\u2063 debatable whether the hipster-Yasser Arafat \u200dcosplayers who \u200d bully<\/a> and harass<\/a> Jewish kids until\u200d they lock themselves in a library are engaging in any legitimate form of expression. \u2064Fortunately,\u2063 no one in the real world\u2064 has any \u2063responsibility to\u2062 hire them. Freedom of association \u2062also \u2064matters.<\/p>\n
Still, the answer \u200dto this kind of bigotry isn\u2019t to give Jewish students special DEI coverage to protect them\u2062 from ugly speech. Rather, and there is\u200b no \u2063panacea, universities should be ridding themselves of all\u200c DEI protections so everyone \u200dhas\u2063 the same \u2064opportunities to speak. Not only \u2063Jewish students \u200dbut students who hold other heterodox views \u2014 say, a belief\u200d in God\u200b or a belief that skin color doesn\u2019<\/a>t\u200d define a \u200cperson or a belief that the American founding was a\u2064 windfall \u200cfor humankind. They just\u200c need the same freedoms the pro-terrorist crowd already enjoys.<\/p>\n
Or, to put in\u2063 language a Harvard president might \u200cunderstand, let them all speak their \u201c truth<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\u200cHow have ideologies such\u2064 as identitarianism and intersectionality \u2062affected free speech on college \u2062campuses?<\/h2>\n
Is Free Speech\u2063 Really Available on College Campuses?<\/p>\n
The issue of free \u200bspeech on college campuses<\/a> has been a\u200d topic of\u200b debate \u200bin recent years. \u2063The question of whether universities should punish students for making genocidal slogans or blaming women and children for their own murders is an important one. However, \u200bit is crucial not to overlook the\u200c fact \u200dthat \u2063there is, in fact, no\u2064 true free speech \u2062on\u200c college campuses.<\/p>\n
In reality, free speech is not \u2062available in any meaningful\u200b way. Especially for \u200cthose who\u2063 dissent\u200d against ideologies \u2064such as identitarianism, intersectionality, and “anti-colonialism” that\u2063 have become prevalent in the education system. These ideologies have\u200c infected \u200dhigher\u200d education\u2062 and\u2064 effectively suppressed any\u2064 dissenting voices.<\/p>\n
If there were truly open discourse on American campuses, we wouldn’t see so many students with misguided\u200d moral \u200bvalues \u2063and a disdain for the very country and civilization that allows them to express their opinions through protests. \u2064The lack of diverse\u2063 perspectives \u2063in these institutions is a clear indication that flawed \u2062ideas go unchallenged in these intellectually sealed environments.<\/p>\n
It’s worth noting that if Harvard\u2064 students were encouraging hate\u2062 speech \u200cagainst any other group, such\u2064 as blaming black \u2063Americans for the existence of white supremacy or promoting violence against \u200cthe LGBTQ+ \u200ccommunity, there would \u200bundoubtedly be a national conversation about the limits of free expression. However, defending free expression<\/a> becomes\u200b an empty gesture when one side\u2064 monopolizes the debate.<\/p>\n
Even nominally controversial right-of-center ideas struggle to\u2063 find a place in these institutions. Academic freedom,\u2063 once considered \u200ba cornerstone of higher \u2064education, has become\u2062 a\u2063 myth. Elite schools may not explicitly prohibit dissenting \u2063views, but they have effectively silenced them through\u2062 expulsion, neutralization, and gradual replacement. The dominance of extremists and pseudo-intellectuals\u200c in academia, outside of STEM programs, is a concerning trend.<\/p>\n
Years ago, \u2062Colorado University\u200d made headlines for its search for a professor of “conservative \u200bthought.” This \u2062search highlighted the perception\u200c that conservative ideas were seen\u2064 as exotic and\u200b outside the mainstream, rather\u2063 than being embedded within a broad range of disciplines as they should\u200b be.<\/p>\n
It is almost comical to \u2062see some donors act surprised by \u2063the lack of free speech on college campuses. Books\u2063 like “God and Man at Yale” by William Buckley in \u200b1951 and\u2063 “Closing of the American Mind: \u2063How Higher Education \u200cHas\u2064 Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students” by Harold Bloom\u200b in 1987 have long exposed the issues within academia.<\/p>\n
This erosion\u2062 of\u2064 free speech has led academics to embrace malleable\u200b truths, which in turn compels \u2063them to contextualize and justify \u2062events \u2062like genocide. We have reached\u200c a point where academic freedom is all but lost.<\/p>\n
While some individuals may passionately defend the\u200d values of free expression, they often remain silent when conservative speakers are\u200d barred from campuses or when state governments establish Ministries of Truth. Free speech is treated\u2062 like plagiarism in elite institutions,\u200c with different standards applied to different individuals. An example is when a professor at Cornell University can make horrific statements about the murder of Jewish babies and face no\u200b consequences,\u200c while a conservative Parkland survivor has his invitation to Harvard\u2062 rescinded over private text messages.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, the notion of free speech \u2064on college campuses is more illusory than ever.\u200d Ideological \u2064uniformity and the suppression of dissenting voices have become the norm. It is crucial to address and rectify this \u200dissue to truly uphold the principles of open discourse,\u2064 intellectual \u200ddiversity, and academic freedom that are essential to higher\u2062 education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Not when it comes to promoting hate speech or inciting violence. While discussing whether universities should penalize students for such behavior is important, it should not overshadow the undeniable truth that true freedom of speech is lacking on campuses. The issue at hand is far more significant than mere debate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":2123590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2123589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2123589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2123590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2123589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2123589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2123589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}