The right not to be offended
Our country’s laughably irrelevant academic environments are fast moving towards the speech codes and establishment protectionism of totalitarian governments. It comes down to the right not to be offended, a topic covered nicely by the always cogent Coyote Blog.
I have a couple of thoughts. First, there is no right not to be offended. Trying to define any such right will be the end of free speech. Second, its funny how the offense is only treated as one-way. While I am OK with abortion, I have many friends who vociferously oppose it. I am positive they are in turn offended by supporters of abortion, but I don’t see any motion here to protect them from offense or provide them a “safe zone” free of opposing views. Third, it strikes me that a better word for the “safe zone” she wants is “echo chamber,” where like-minded people as her can be free from having to hear any opposing opinion.
Universities fancy themselves bastions of free speech, but it seems that students and professors are so afraid of opposition as to outlaw it. I believe that these draconian (and sometimes illegal) proposals are rooted in fear, not principles. Academia has become petrified of dissent–and that’s the saddest bit of it all.
I’m reminded of my own jihad (OH WAIT, IS THAT OFFENSIVE?) against Brandeis University (see FIRE profile) in 2000. After the shenanigans of Brandeis’ administration in attempting to stop a Charlton Heston speech, I emailed the president of Brandeis with some, ahem, strong words.
Bryan Rudnick, organizer of the student-sponsored event and founder of “Students for the Second Amendment,” complained in recent weeks that the University was attempting to censor Heston’s speech by imposing prohibitively expensive security precautions. School administrators denied the charges, citing the potential for violent protests. Precautions included extra police, bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors and an emergency blood supply for Mr. Heston.
His secretary emailed me back in disbelief, actually asking “Do you know who you’re writing to?” Yeah, the president of a university that doesn’t believe in free speech. Are you really that afraid of a challenging email?
It is the assumption of “safety,” i.e. homogenous opinion, in universities which is so sad. My take: give ‘em a dose of their favorite thing, federal bureaucracy, and require universities receiving any federal funding to meet minimum free speech guidelines. If you don’t meet the requirements, all federal funding–including for graduate schools–goes down the toilet.