Free speech 'dead' on campuses
by Anya Bergman
Associate Editor
News | 3/18/08
Posted online at 4:33 AM EST on 3/18/08
/ Last updated at 11:09 AM EST on 3/18/08
Harvey Silverglate, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, gave a lecture titled "The Death of Free Speech, Parody, and Vigorous Debate on Campus: Why Has It Happened, and What Is to Be Done?" last Wednesday in the Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose room.
FIRE is a nonprofit organization that examines issues of free speech in higher education. Silverglate started his speech by saying that free speech, parody and vigorous debate have died in American higher education and are "worth fighting [for]." He explained that liberal arts campuses should be devoted to academic freedom, vigorous debate and questions "unto their innermost parts," but are actually the least free places in our society.
Silverglate said he could not comment much on the case of Prof. Donald Hindley (POL), on which FIRE issued a report last January admonishing the University's handling of the situation, because of conflicting reports and the fact that Hindley never had a hearing. Hindley received word from Provost Marty Krauss last October that he had violated the University's nondiscrimination policy for allegedly using the term "wetback" in a Latin American politics course. Silverglate said that whether Hindley used the term wetback did not matter as long as it was germane to the context of his course.
"One may not say in Harvard Yard what one may say in Harvard Square," Silverglate said, adding that this was not the way it used to be.
He said the problem of censorship began in the 1980s, when colleges began accepting a more diverse student body. Afraid of offending the students and causing them to leave the schools, the administrations sought to "restrict unpleasant speech."
Silverglate then gave an example from 1989, when a male sophomore at Tufts University sold T-shirts on campus that read "Why beer is better than women at Tufts," with a list of 15 demeaning reasons. After a woman complained, the student was held on probation and given 50 hours of community service.
FIRE is a nonprofit organization that examines issues of free speech in higher education. Silverglate started his speech by saying that free speech, parody and vigorous debate have died in American higher education and are "worth fighting [for]." He explained that liberal arts campuses should be devoted to academic freedom, vigorous debate and questions "unto their innermost parts," but are actually the least free places in our society.
Silverglate said he could not comment much on the case of Prof. Donald Hindley (POL), on which FIRE issued a report last January admonishing the University's handling of the situation, because of conflicting reports and the fact that Hindley never had a hearing. Hindley received word from Provost Marty Krauss last October that he had violated the University's nondiscrimination policy for allegedly using the term "wetback" in a Latin American politics course. Silverglate said that whether Hindley used the term wetback did not matter as long as it was germane to the context of his course.
"One may not say in Harvard Yard what one may say in Harvard Square," Silverglate said, adding that this was not the way it used to be.
He said the problem of censorship began in the 1980s, when colleges began accepting a more diverse student body. Afraid of offending the students and causing them to leave the schools, the administrations sought to "restrict unpleasant speech."
Silverglate then gave an example from 1989, when a male sophomore at Tufts University sold T-shirts on campus that read "Why beer is better than women at Tufts," with a list of 15 demeaning reasons. After a woman complained, the student was held on probation and given 50 hours of community service.
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