More of the usual academic hypocrisy on “free speech”
How many times have I heard a professor wax poetic about “free speech”—or rant about the Patriot Act’s supposedly fascist restrictions on it—and then turn around to see academia fail to walk the walk? Well, about as many times as I’ve seen “diversity” used as a codeword for “everyone but white people.”
Today’s lovely example of liberal hypocrisy comes from Northwestern Medill School of Journal Professor Michele Weldon. Prof. Weldon was so shocked, so absolutely appalled at the “offensive” Northwestern-related groups she saw on Thefacebook.com that she coaxed Medill administrators into lecturing freshmen journalism students over it. (No word over whether the students were grounded or their allowances reduced.)
Delving into the story, we find the good professor became inconsolably upset at the sight of four groups’ names in particular.
- Editing and Writing the News Made My Quarter Hell
- The Alliance for Unethical Journalism
- I Was Raped by My Medill Midterm
- History and Issues Cured My Insomnia
After reading this story, I’m left with a couple of questions.
- Are academics this clueless and this out-of-touch? I mean, seriously.
- What happened to the Internet as “freedom of the press?” And what about the constant crowing about “freedom of speech?” Weldon, do you really get your panties in a bunch when someone says a class is a cure for insomnia? Are you that thin-skinned? Are you that pathetically sensitive?
- Baby, what were you doing on Thefacebook anyway?! Looking for a spring fling? Sounds like The Keg is more your style.
UPDATE 4/15/05: Thankfully, a few Northwestern kids have spoken up the decry Weldon’s laughable stand. The 4/13/05 letters from the Daily’s Forum page are probably a good gauge of campus sentiment, while Northwestern student Elaine Meyer points out that more than likely, Medill profs are uncomfortable with the public criticism. But what’s troubling is the reaction of David Spett, who looks like he’s been intimidated by Medill into modifying his speech online. If this were anywhere but a college campus, professors would be hyperbolically crowing about the “chilling effect” on free speech. Where’s that rhetoric now, O High and Mighty Medill?
April 13th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
All of it kills me. Too many people today are arguing about the “1st Amendment” without knowing anything about it. Liberals are going crazy and conservatives as well. I mean seriously, why are conservatives going crazy about liberal professors and why are liberals trying to save Ward Churchill even though he is a biggot? I believe this is all because there is a distinct lack of causes to take up these days. Before, you could fight against or for something. Now it seems like people are lost. THey don’t have a good idea about where they fit in to society and their values are all reactionary. Now people aren’t proactive, instead they search for something to be AGAINST.
April 13th, 2005 at 8:09 pm
I might be guilty of that.
April 14th, 2005 at 11:44 am
an interesting quote I found from the cafe hayek blog. it comes from hayek himself,
“One’s initial surprise at finding that intelligent people tend to be socialists diminishes when one realises that, of course, intelligent people will tend to overvalue intelligence, and to suppose that we must owe all the advantages and opportunities that our civilisation offers to deliberate design rather than to traditional rules, and likewise to suppose that we can, by exercising our reason, eliminate any remaining undesired features by still more intelligent reflection, and still more appropriate design and ‘rational coordination’ of our undertakings. This leads one to be favorably disposed to the central economic planning and control that lie at the heart of socialism.”
this would dicate why most college professors are liberal and socialist.
April 22nd, 2005 at 3:13 am
It’s good to see some press coming out of our little debacle. Yes, I am one of the freshmen lectured at the forum, and I did try to civilly present the student goals to the administration. They listened, and I believe most of them truly are interested in our opinions and were secretly troubled by the actions of some of the faculty. There is a strong student backlash here, even among non-Medill students, and I hope that all can learn a lesson in civility from the episode.
Was some of the content on thefacebook.com inappropriate, or at least in poor taste. Of course. But look at the rest of the website’s content. The whole thing is a recreational activity for students, and while it may be a form of publication, no one was defamed or libelled. As was said earlier, the academics needed to calm down.
And don’t bash David Spett’s resolve. As someone involved in this issue, I can say that he was instrumental in bringing this issue to the forefront, probably moreso than anyone else. If he was nearly intimidated by the faculty, which is debatable, it is a frightening thing. Professors must understand and respect their powerful role in shaping students. I doubt this entire class of students has been permanently declawed by the incident, but the possibility was there. This is thanks to the actions of Spett and various other students, and of the generally excellent Medill faculty.
April 22nd, 2005 at 6:36 pm
I guess it’s safe to say that I felt intimidated, and I’m sure my peers did as well. I decided it wasn’t very nice for my Facebook group (then “History and Issues Cured My Insomnia,” later “Students for Improving History & Issues”) to have a picture of my professor Photoshopped to look like a clown. He may have been a bad teacher, but he’s a decent guy, and I’m in this school for the next three years. That said, there was nothing illegal about what I did.
This issue was sparked over a month ago when Prof. Weldon sent a threatening email to her students about “libelous” Facebook groups. My group immediately lost half its membership. Clearly, students were intimidated.
Prof. Weldon’s email unnecessarily threatened students with expulsion and falsely accused them of libel and defamation. She wrote that the remarks “should never have been published.”
I am not a fan of the Northwestern Chronicle, but their editors said it best on April 15: “To have a journalism teacher – whose profession depends on the right to free speech – attack students for the sin of disliking her class and daring to put it in writing is nothing short of ludicrous.”
I have spoken with a number of Medill faculty and administrators since the forum described here. Despite initially saying otherwise, faculty are now willing to admit that students have every right to complain and be inappropriate on Thefacebook. Dean Ghiglione in particular is very willing to discuss the matter openly with students and to accept some blame for the way the incident was handled.
Unfortunately, Michele Weldon stands alone as the sole professor still excoriating students for exercising their rights. I find her remarks to be mind-boggling. On April 11, she said in the Daily Northwestern, “There were hate sites … that incite violence against students.” On NNN the same day she suggested with a straight face that, rather than using Thefacebook, students should paint the Rock, a landmark on Northwestern’s campus.
This rhetoric is entirely irrational.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Open this post and read what I think about that:,