I keep seeing a lot of commentary on why President Trump’s upcoming executive order regarding campus free speech will be good or bad. Frankly, I wonder how anyone can really make that determination when the text has yet to be announced or perhaps even drafted.
There is certainly a speech crisis on campus, despite some people trying to claim it does not exist.
Conservative activist Hayden Williams being punched in the face at the University of California, Berkeley has little to do with it, although it actually paints a striking picture of how far out of hand things have gotten.
Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, called the proposed executive order “a solution in search of a problem.” He’s wrong. Students report a self-censoring due to campus culture, speech organizations report numerous campuses have draconian speech codes on the books, and multiple universities are sued each year for violations of First Amendment rights. Trump is right that there’s a speech crisis on campus, and I hope he’s right when it comes to the actual language of the order.
Some speculate Trump will end up signing an unconstitutional power grab, meddling in universities’ ability to do research, setting the academic tone of campuses, and harming religious universities. Others are celebrating the reigning in of campus bureaucrats and believe the executive order could be a powerful lever to hold universities to account. As one former Berkeley conservative activist wrote, “Trump has saved the free speech movement.” In reality, the executive order will probably fall somewhere in the middle of all these expectations.
The White House is tight-lipped on any details, which makes me think it’s still being drafted.
Everyone should hold their horses on the criticism or praise until we see what is produced. It’s one thing to state how you hope it turns out, it’s another to jump the gun and judge something that has yet to be written.
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
