Free speek series#
Free speek free#

This is a normal and important part of a university campus. When they do, the message to campus should be simple: We welcome the expression of ideas and the debate that it generates.

Many faculty are already helping students learn to frame questions in ways that open room for inquiry rather than shutting it down, listen closely to what others can teach us, and engage effectively across intellectual differences.īut colleges could do more, especially with new faculty, to ensure they have the tools to effectively generate and manage challenging classroom conversations.Īs part of this work, universities also need to hold ourselves accountable to make sure students are hearing a wide range of views and perspectives in their courses and across campus programs and events.ĭespite all the groundwork, controversies will arise. There is an art to engaging in open, fierce, and productive intellectual inquiry. The same kind of work needs to be done in classrooms.

Free speek series#

Our faculty have organized a speaker series called Minds Wide Open that is designed to generate opportunities for students to embrace discomfort as normal, fun and important.

Free speek free#

This year, we used new student orientation to host a parliamentary-style debate on free speech to help students start to develop the basic skills to do this work. That means talking explicitly about why free inquiry and expression of ideas are important in new student and parent orientation programs, as well as onboarding new faculty and staff.īeyond messaging, we also need to focus on skills-skills students are not showing up on university campuses with. It's not just enough to state it, though we need to build these messages into how we onboard everybody on our campus. The policy is direct: 'Academic Freedom is the right of all members of the University to exercise the broadest possible latitude in speaking, writing, listening, challenging, and learning.' It goes on, 'Academic freedom applies to views and ideas that most members of the University may consider mistaken, dangerous, and even despicable.' Protesters kneel and raise their fists during a 'Black Lives Matter' demonstration in front of the Brooklyn Library and Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York. The policy outlines the importance of free expression to the mission of the university and the role of students and faculty in promoting intellectual inquiry and scholarly engagement. To this end, at Denison, the university where I am the president, our faculty wrote an academic freedom policy that is publicly available on our website and included in the student handbook. Neither of these is possible if faculty feel a need to censor themselves and students don't have the opportunity to voice their views, hear the views of others and engage across intellectual differences. This should be simple: Colleges and universities exist to produce knowledge and educate students.

How do we do this kind of work? Universities can start by laying out clearly and loudly our purpose and articulating why free inquiry and expression of ideas are crucial to our work. Universities need to do more to protect free inquiry and expression, which will only flourish on campuses that are clear about their purpose, driven by cultures of curiosity and intellectual humility, hold the line when controversies arise, and focus on creating communities where everybody feels a sense of connection. Meanwhile, the percentage of students who felt their campus climate prevents students from expressing their opinions has increased, from 54 percent to 65 percent, since 2016. The same study found that the percentage of students who believe that free speech rights are secure has dropped from 59 percent to 47 percent since 2019-fully 12 points. Still, college campuses are increasingly challenging places to have challenging conversations. According to recent research by the Knight Foundation, 84 percent of students view free speech rights as critical to our democracy. But despite what you may have heard, most university students and faculty are supportive of free speech and the robust exchange of ideas on university campuses. Free speech on college campus has emerged as a new front in the culture wars.