U. Chicago Student Newspaper Less Supportive of Free Speech than Administration
The student newspaper at University of Chicago is less supportive of free speech than the administration.
Why don’t these students get it? The College Fix reports.
Crack down on ‘hate speech’ to save free speech, UChicago paper urges
Talk about a “man bites dog” story: The student newspaper at the University of Chicago is actually less supportive of free speech than the administration.
Following a university-commissioned report on the school’s environment for freedom of expression, which binds the school to a “completely free and open discussion of ideas,” the Chicago Maroon editorial board says the committee that drafted the report went too far:
The University needs to clearly differentiate hate speech and offensive speech. Hate speech is defined as “speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits,” according to the American Bar Association. The report’s failure to clearly define hate speech implies that all speech short of unlawful harassment is acceptable, no matter how vile or cruel. While it is important for students to challenge each other’s opinions, this should not come at the expense of students’ mental well-being or safety.
It wants less narrow exceptions to speech restrictions, saying that it’s not enough to punish unlawful, libelous or threatening speech:
What is more concerning are the University’s apparent inconsistencies on this issue. In an e-mail sent on November 24 in response to the false hacking incident, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Karen Warren Coleman reiterated the University’s “commitment to a diverse campus free from harassment and discrimination.” Given the University’s stated commitment to eradicating hateful speech on campus in the past, it is disappointing that it has failed to maintain this strong stance in its most recent report. Condemning hate speech would not have detracted from a strong defense of free speech—it would have simply clarified it.
You see, these young student journalists really love free speech, properly defined:
Speech that challenges commonly held assumptions can be beneficial. Hate speech benefits no one because it seeks only to tear down, not to build up. The University needs to directly address hate speech for the good of productive discourse.
Crack down on ‘hate speech’ to save free speech, UChicago paper urges (The College Fix)
Comments
When I grew up in the Chicago area, I heard that the U of Chicago had only outstanding students. I believed this. Now, I know that the university has some students who are really dumb. Free speech means exactly that — free. It does not mean defined speech. Only very limited students would propose that you can define hate speech in any universal way. My calling these people dumb is probably called hate speech because I am saying something bad about these people. I do not hate them — I pity them.
I teach at the University of Chicago. Good news is that no one, no one on campus considers the student newspaper (the Maroon seriously. Not students, not faculty. It’s just there. If it fell apart and went away tomorrow there are precious few who would notice, let alone miss it.
The above paragraph likely qualifies as ‘hate speech’ per the outline of the writer at the Maroon.
Better news: our faculty committee, composed of true heavyweights of campus thought, got it exactly right on free speech. I’m very much encouraged.