Based on the 4/25/2017 Journal article, I see that
interim UNM President Abdallah is standing up for free academic
discourse rather than supporting the notion of banning speech based on
its point of view. That is excellent news. The University
is here to expose us to difficult ideas, not to shield us from them.
This decision helps cement that core value.
I have followed Dr. Christina Sommer's work since
the mid 1990's ("Who Stole Feminism", etc) in the context of events that
were unfolding at the University of Hawaii during the time I was on the
graduate faculty in earth sciences and on
the Board of Directors of the faculty labor union. Then, like now,
there was pushback against ideas some found uncomfortable. For student
groups to protest a visit by Dr. Sommers, a philosophy scholar first at
Clark University and now at the American Enterprise
Institute, shows a glaring lack of understanding of academic freedom
and indifference to the value of listening to intelligently stated, if
opposing, views.
As far as Mr. Ben Shapiro, he is not an academic like
Sommers but his point of view would be as relevant on campus as anyone
else from the media. The media, including organizations like Breitbart
that have contributed to the polarizing of opinion,
exerts a powerful influence on American politics. We need to understand
the media, how it works, and how to best refute ideas that only survive
in their own political bubble. That said, I don’t think the University
is compelled, at least under the banner of
academic freedom, to invite someone if their only credentials are those
of an agent provocateur.
I do hope that these visits can occur without the
violent conduct that has occurred elsewhere under the excuse of hurt
feelings. As Foundation for Individual Rights in Education President
Greg Lukianoff has adroitly stated, "Holding one
person's expression hostage to the 'feelings' of another can only lead
to arbitrary censorship and, ultimately, silence."
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