Free speech on college campuses is suffering as liberal college students seek to be so tolerant and inclusive that they’ve actually silenced the opinions of those with whom they disagree.
Earlier in the semester for instance, students at Wesleyan University defunded a newspaper because it dared to publish an op-ed criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement.
It’s not because the op-ed was racist or objectively offensive in any other way. It was simply because the students were too upset that someone might have opposing views.
The New York Times put together a compilation of pieces in their Room for Debate section describing the threat to free speech on college campuses. The Wesleyan student who wrote the above-mentioned Black Lives Matter piece contributes to the discussion with his piece on “echo chambers on campus and beyond.”
In it, Bryan Stascavage mentioned the situation at Wesleyan, which he called “a salient example.” His points don’t merely apply to Wesleyan University, but rather the polarization of America in general. Stascavage begins and closes with such points:
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When they graduate, they will take these values to their respective industries. And if the recent upheaval surrounding my college newspaper is foreshadowing, the news media industry may have a problem on its hands.
The end result will be even more polarization in America, with societal fault lines growing increasingly contentious and unproductive.
Another piece includes insight from Smith College president Kathleen McCartney, who wrote that “Today’s Students Have a New Way of Looking at Free Speech.” That’s certainly one way of looking at it.
