Fears of the death of free speech on college campuses have been raised repeatedly in recent years, fueled by high-profile incidents showing that when students, professors or visiting lecturers express a different point of view on a political issue they face the very real risk of being castigated.
The viewpoints that raise others’ ire often tend to be of a conservative bent, lending credence to the notion that college campuses are dominated by liberals who do not welcome alternative points of view. Nick Kristoff, a columnist at The New York Times, has been highlighting this imbalance at universities in recent weeks. In his most recent column, he said: “Universities risk becoming liberal echo chambers and hostile environments for conservatives.”
This seems to be a relatively uncontroversial concept. And yet Mr. Kristoff’s readers have roundly criticized him for expressing these kinds of opinions on this topic. He has written about that criticism in his columns as well, saying how surprised he was by it.
Shutting down dialogues is not what is generally accepted as the purpose of a college or university. In fact, colleges are supposed to be places where young people can gather together to gain higher knowledge of the world and to exchange thoughts and ideas. Colleges should foster environments where you can speak your mind freely and not have to worry about others putting a label on you. Sadly, though, college campuses have become politically-charged environments where people are afraid to express a view for fear of offending someone and being labeled a “Philistine.”
Obviously, I am not in favor of the kind of hate speech that’s steeped in intolerance, ignorance and a my-way-or-the-highway stance.
But the situation has gotten so bad at some campuses that when comedians come to entertain students with a stand-up routine, they feel compelled to censor the material to make sure no students could be offended. Heaven help the poor comedian whose material does upset someone; the performer is booed off the stage, labeled “insensitive” and becomes blacklisted. No wonder Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock refrain from doing standup at colleges. They feel that college students don’t really know how to take a joke at its face value because they’re so obsessed with whether or not the joke may offend someone.
I think this adherence to political correctness is a form of coddling. Professors and entertainers try to skirt around the severity of some issues such as racism, sexual assault and equality. This fosters a sort of “ignorance is bliss” environment, which is the exact opposite of what college is supposed to do. When we graduates go out into the world, we’re going to find offensive and inflammatory content everywhere. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone were exposed to upsetting material early on so we can form our own opinions, instead of living in a state of denial?
A class example of this was last year’s decision by the University of Michigan to cancel a screening of “American Sniper,” the film about a Navy SEAL who served four tours in Iraq. A letter to the University from 300 students complained that the film was racially-charged and made Middle Eastern and Muslim students feel unwelcome. But in deciding to cancel the screening, school officials seemed overly concerned with taking the politically-correct view to the point of censoring a popular movie that could show viewers the harrowing life of a soldier in the Iraqi conflict and how post-traumatic stress disorder has become such a problem among veterans.
The university quickly reversed the decision and showed the movie. But its initial response shows how powerful the coddling crowd has become on some campuses. Indeed, just last week, two Yale University professors resigned from their positions after becoming embroiled in controversy about potentially offensive Halloween costumes. The professors were hounded for articulating a well-argued view that students should not be barred from wearing costumes that may in some peoples’ minds reinforce stereotypes. As one of the professors wrote in an open letter to Yale students, “if you don’t like a costume someone is wearing, look away, or tell them you are offended. Talk to each other. Free speech and the ability to tolerate offense are the hallmarks of a free and open society.”
Tolerating offensive views is becoming rarer and rare on college campuses. And that is not a good thing. Taken to the extreme, political correctness and the creation of "safe spaces" could introduce a repressive environment like those of North Korea and Communist Russia. College is preparation for life and life is full of offensive people. Listening to someone you disagree with is hard. But it will be even harder for those who have lived in a controlled college atmosphere where only one point of view can be uttered to thrive in a real-world environment where a wide array of opinions exist.
