A Rebirth of Free Speech

Freedom of speech on college campuses has been the victim of student and faculty intolerance toward opposing views. But now a growing group of Harvard professors are speaking out.

Speech is the second freedom in Article I of the Constitution. But in post-modern America that freedom is being tested and threatened in many quarters, especially on university and college campuses. For some years now, academia has shown itself to be philosophically and ideologically biased, favoring the radical socialist left of the political and cultural spectrum. The media, with few exceptions, plays a significant role with its lack of interest in reporting on this issue.

This thinking brings with it intolerance toward other viewpoints and has manifested into behavior that has consumed both instructors and students, and has created a climate of unrest and hostility. Many invited conservative guest speakers have had to interrupt or cancel their appearances due to student shoutouts and protests, and in some cases violence has resulted. 

This threat to freedom of speech in academia is systemic, and has created what I believe is an awakening that is sweeping across the country. The American people have had enough, and have become active in voicing their objection to what they believe is a dire situation on a number of different issues. And this movement is gaining steam and will continue to grow. 

People, especially parents of school children, are speaking out against the incremental intrusion of the socialist left agenda. Recently another movement emerged from out of the ether, this time on a university campus. And this one in particular, if it moves forward and hopefully creates a groundswell, will cause waves in academia. 

Harvard University was founded in 1636, and is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, and one of the most prestigious in the world. And like most elite universities, it is a bastion of socialist left advocacy and activism. Students are given liberties, and in most cases are treated with kid gloves. If offended by something someone said, even an instructor, the student can retire to a safe space to meditate and ease their troubled psyche. As for the individual who caused this turn of events, in most cases the administration will support the students, and whatever repercussions there may be against the offender will ensue.

In a recent movement, more than 100 Harvard professors have come forward and voiced their objection to the climate of intolerance on campus, and took a stand for free speech. These faculty members have joined The Council on Academic Freedom (CAF). Janet Halley is a Harvard Law School Professor, and expressed her grave concern, “We are in a crisis time right now. Many people are being threatened with - and actually put through - disciplinary processes for their exercise of free speech and academic freedom.”  

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the College Pulse, in a 2023 survey, found that only 27% of Harvard’s students thought that interrupting and shouting down a speaker on campus was unacceptable, while 26% thought it acceptable on occasion. The co-founder of CAF, Psychology Professor Steven Pinker declared, “Confidence in American higher education is sinking. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and if we don’t defend academic freedom, we should not be surprised when a disgusted citizenry writes us off.” 

Up until the CAF was founded, many faculty members were hesitant to raise their voices, to object and then declare - this intolerance of free speech was wrong and must be confronted and challenged. Professor Jeffery Flier of Harvard Medical School and co-president of CAF stated, “There hasn’t been any network of people from across the spectrum that could be able to do this - but this is what we now have in the council.”

Once upon a time colleges and universities were bedrocks of free speech. Could The Council on Academic Freedom, which continues to grow, be a rebirth of that freedom, not only at Harvard University but across the academic, political, and cultural spectrum? Hopefully, yes.