On the heels of Ann Coulter’s canceled lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, Congressman Sean Duffy, R-Wis., is asking Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for a list of actions her department can take to address the problems caused by recent free speech controversies on taxpayer-funded college campuses.
In a new letter sent from Duffy to DeVos on Friday morning, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Examiner, the Wisconsin Republican says he is “deeply concerned” by UC Berkeley’s decision to “suppress free speech” by canceling Coulter’s lecture.
“If university officials feel that it is their priority to keep students safe,” Duffy wrote, “they should do so by addressing the culture of violence that accompanies these lawless riots, not by suppressing the constitutional rights of everyday American citizens.”
“By canceling the original event,” he continued, “UC Berkeley has sent a clear and disturbing message to protesters everywhere: continue the violence and you will win.”
The congressman detailed examples from his home state in the letter as well, noting, “Students tell me all the time that they spend four years enduring rather than learning, and never once have the opportunity to study under a conservative professor.”
In response, Duffy is asking DeVos to provide him with “a set of specific actions the Department of Education can take to ensure that taxpayer-funded institutions of higher education create and support a fair environment that protects speech and fosters dialogue.” He also requested “specific recommendations” for actions that Congress can take to ensure taxpayer-funded colleges and universities “foster an honest, equitable, and fair discussion of political issues and thought.”
“I implore you to be mindful of these politically intolerant environments that our taxpayer dollars are funding throughout the United States, and to take any and all necessary action to prevent this systematic suppression of free speech,” Duffy wrote.
“Universities are a place for our best and brightest to be educated, not indoctrinated,” he concluded.
Given her previous statements, it is likely DeVos will be sympathetic to Duffy’s plea.
At this year’s CPAC she decried the silencing of conservative voices on college campuses, telling students in the audience, “The faculty, from adjunct professors to deans, tell you what to do, what to say and, more ominously, what to think.”
She continued, “They say that if you voted for Donald Trump, you’re a threat to the university community. But the real threat is silencing the First Amendment rights of people with whom you disagree.”
Given the bipartisan uproar over Coulter’s canceled lecture — even Duffy’s congressional colleagues Sens. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., both criticized the decision made by Berkeley — his sentiments are likely shared by many others on Capitol Hill.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
