Cause for optimism in the fight for free expression on campus?
Universities are reasserting their commitment to free speech and free expression.
It’s too early to tell, but things might be turning a corner for the better in higher ed. Leaders at universities around the country are stepping up to defend liberal values in the face of the burst of illiberalism seen on campuses in the past few years, with several releasing pro-free speech statements. Is it possible higher ed is wising up to the importance of free speech and open discourse in the search for truth? Has the policy of accommodating and encouraging illiberal voices on campus proven unsustainable? While it may indeed be too early to tell, there are reasons for optimism.
During the spring 2023 semester alone, several universities took steps to reaffirm their commitments to free speech. While campus leadership has not remained completely silent on free speech until now, it has been remarkable to witness the sudden burst of pushback many critics of illiberalism have been waiting for. University leadership sets the tone for the campus, and seeing such a clear and bold stance in favor of free speech is a promising development for everyone.
Developments in defending free speech and free inquiry on campus
Princeton University now joins the University of Chicago in establishing principles for free expression on campus. If you’re unfamiliar, Chicago released its “Chicago Principles” in 2014 to “articulate the University’s overarching commitment to free, robust, and uninhibited debate.” Princeton has taken a similar tack but has added that “universities have a special fiduciary duty to foster freedom of thought for the benefit of the societies that sustain them.” That is, universities are trusted with protecting and advancing freedom of thought, and it is their responsibility to guard this against illiberal efforts to shut it down.
The point about fiduciary duty is the most important element of the Princeton Principles for a Campus Culture of Free Inquiry. It is no secret that Americans’ trust in institutions has dropped significantly in the last several years, and universities have not been immune to that. The right especially sees universities as factories of left-wing ideology and radical activism. And while radicals and ideologues can be found on any campus, it is certainly not the case that all of higher ed is overrun with them. Meanwhile, other schools are bending to pressure from right-wing public officials to police speech. When universities fail to serve as the bulwarks of free expression, they are derelict in their duty to the public and, therefore, violate their trust. And while this is undesirable by itself, it also opens doors to other, potentially worse, forms of illiberalism, like direct state intervention in campus life.
The Princeton Principles are not the only cause for hope recently. Just this week, 13 university presidents signed onto the Campus Call for Free Expression, spearheaded by the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. This nonprofit seeks to strengthen democracy by educating young people to become civically-minded citizens. This initiative is a
commitment by a diverse group of college presidents to urgently spotlight, uplift, and re-emphasize the principles of critical inquiry and civic discourse on their campuses. The Campus Call is centered on a coordinated set of presidential and campus activities focused on free expression that collectively amplify higher education’s role in preparing young people to be the empowered citizens our democracy needs.
A promising and long overdue development indeed.
The initiative leaves it up to the universities to implement it on their campuses. According to The Hill, James Madison University is partnering with the Bipartisan Policy Center to provide free expression training to students, while Duke University is giving its law students on-the-job training working with clients involved in free speech cases.
Some bright spots, but not out of the woods yet
While news of the Princeton Principles and the Campus Call for Free Expression are bright spots in an otherwise dreary landscape, it does not indicate that liberalism is back.
At the Liberal Patriot, Musa Al-Gharbi argues that, while there is still much work to do, things are improving. He points to data from Heterodox Academy showing that “students today feel more comfortable sharing their perspectives across a range of topics than they did in previous years.” These findings line up with something I wrote recently on a similar topic. He also highlights the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) tracking of “cancel culture” events, which “show marked declines in attempts to punish scholars for their speech or view across all measures.”
And it isn’t just students. Al-Gharbi’s piece also shows that professors are focusing less on identity-related research. A Heterodox Academy study he points to argues that “the post-2011 academic gold rush on identitarian bias, discrimination, and inequality seems to have run its course.” While it remains unclear what scholars will do next in this post-gold rush world, it seems that, at least for now, we are moving away from the ideological--and often shoddy--research that served as the intellectual underpinning of much of the campus illiberalism we’ve seen in the past decade.
But just because there are a couple of bright spots on the horizon does not indicate victory in the battle for free speech on campus. There are still incidents of cancel culture, some quite serious. Whether the Call for Campus Free Inquiry sticks remains to be seen. The administrative apparatuses that gorge themselves on anti-liberal philosophies will likely resist. Students may also push back, arguing from trauma that speech protections are necessary to insulate them from dangerous ideas. Universities may see this and determine the fight is not worth having if it means reduced enrollments and more campus trouble.
Nevertheless, something about this moment does seem different. Such a coordinated effort to reassert the importance of upholding free speech is a much stronger statement than we’ve seen in many years. But even if it is successful and universities suddenly fully embrace free inquiry, it must still be jealously guarded. As Jacob Mchangama said in a speech for FIRE recently, “free speech is never truly won or lost, it is a continual struggle, both between and within human beings, and unless we reaffirm our commitment to this principle, it will wither away under the corrosive influence of intolerance, ignorance, and indifference.”