There is no lack of articles on the decline of free speech on college campuses.
It’s easy to say that the academy is a brood of vipers waiting to indoctrinate our children. It’s a little too easy and even verges on the cliché.
We at We The People argue that, in fact, it’s wrong.
Free speech is not dead on college campuses in the United States. Instead, it is used as a cudgel by liberal professors trying to maintain control of mainstream politics.
The stranglehold progressive ideology has on all levels of our university system is undeniable. Don’t get me wrong, it may sound like a stereotype, but the activist professor who singles out students based on their skin color is very much real and very much shielded by tenure.
It’s not that some of the more clear-sighted professors and administrators don’t recognize the problems of modern universities. Yet, as Dr. Michael Robillard describes, there is no point when an individual can feel secure enough in their position to stand up and push back. The threat to their career and even their relationships is just too great.
Yet, all of this is to say that there is no lack of free speech on college campuses. Indeed, they are lousy with it. Again, Dr. Robillard gives a striking description of the current discourse of the academy:
“Mark Bray, for instance, author of the Antifascist Handbook, nearly openly calls for overt violence against anyone who disagrees with his group’s political vision while promoting his work on Amazon’s bestseller list and enjoying the safety of a professorship at Rutgers.
Feminist journalist, Laurie Penny, promotes her ‘radical’ viewpoints, too disruptive and controversial for everyday consumption, at the “Festival of Dangerous Ideas” officially sponsored by the Sydney Opera House and the city of Sydney.
And LGBTQ philosopher, Rebecca Kukla, is able to tell her opponents on Twitter to ‘suck her queer cock’ while maintaining a comfortable tenureship as Senior Research Scholar of Ethics at (nominally Catholic) Georgetown while suffering zero professional backlash.”
This is exactly what conservatives have dealt with through lockdowns, riots, and contentious elections: rules for thee, not for me. Free speech exists in abundance if you don’t go against the grain.
All of this lends itself to a degree of tribalism and groupthink that has not been seen in decades. Professors, administrators, and graduate students are caught in a cycle of conformity through shaming. Surely, Napoleon and Snowball from Animal Farm have more dignity.
But, we have yet to tackle the “why” of the situation. Anecdotal evidence abounds, but by some estimates, the United States college and university system is one of the most politically homogeneous groups in the country. Researchers have confirmed that liberal and moderate professors outnumber their conservative counterparts by nearly 90%.
Administrators fare somewhat better with a laughable twelve-to-one ratio. There is also a strong feeling that scholars have “gone with the flow” in order to maintain the accepted narrative. Surely, gone are the days of the hippy students pushing back on their stuffed-shirt conservative professors and/or deans.
Need further examples of how universities keep tight control over acceptable speech? I will give you two: In order to advance in their careers, professors need to not only complete new and rigorous research but publish it. If the journal editors or reviewers don’t think the content fits with their progressive worldview? Too bad. Or, what if you teach medieval British Literature but administrators want it to be “less white” (which happens far more often than you would expect)? Again, sorry kid. No tenure for you.
These problems trickle down to students who fall in line with highly politicized professors in order to secure internships and letters of recommendation. Free speech becomes controlled speech; just the way the progressive left likes it.
But hope is not lost. The battle that young conservatives are fighting is continuous and grueling. But there has been victory after victory. Now is not the time to give up on actual free speech within the academy.
We must support these young voices, keep them focused on their education. We The People is standing with young conservatives and we are asking you to join us. If you are ready to join the fight, consider donating to the cause.
With any luck, we can shake off the lockstep professor who has traded his tweed for an AOC t-shirt and his pipe for a mohawk.