Not surprisingly, The Tribune is giving considerable visibility to the University of Utah’s new task force to address unfortunate racist incidents on campus. I won’t hold my breath in thinking that a group of overpaid college administrators, trapped in a bubble of political correctness, are going find a cure for a complex social affliction with roots far beyond the confines of the university. But I will withhold judgment for the moment.
Nonetheless, it remains deeply troubling to hear one administrator say they need to address the balance between “free speech and civil dialogue on campus.”
I think not. What these administrators need to do is find is a copy of the U.S. Constitution, wherein free speech is enshrined as a foundational principle of our democracy, not to be constrained except in the most extreme circumstances. Nowhere in the Constitution, nor in defining Supreme Court decisions, is there any allowance for politically correct ninnies to limit free speech under some vague notion of “civility.”
Are there any adults left at America’s universities? Instead of catering to increasingly infantile student psyches, why not make a robust defense of the marketplace of ideas and its contribution to American civilization? The University of Chicago managed this feat, and I suggest the U. administrators read what they told incoming students and learn from their example.
You can find it on the internet.
Daniel Mensel, Torrey