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One thing that I think people off-campus (and even some people on campus) might not fully understand is the capacity of universities to self-regulate reasonable standards around speech. Given that, outside regulation is dangerous.
I'll give two examples from my time in Wisconsin.
I'll give two examples from my time in Wisconsin.
Example 1: In the 1990s, UW-Madison adopted speech codes, for the best of intentions, but were (IMO) excessively restrictive. Faculty disagreed. Some organized to oppose, and succeeded in reversing the codes at the Faculty Senate. https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/29/2/the_wisconsin_fight_for_academic_freedom
Example 2: the first time I heard evidence about the potential for diversity training to sometimes backfire was probably 2013 or so from psychology faculty at the Faculty Senate. The point was not to ban training, but to use an evidence-informed approach.
One might disagree with the outcome, but in both cases, smart and well-intentioned people engaged in iterative and ongoing debate about how to balance free speech with other values. They drew on real examples from research and their own campus to make decisions.
When state legislatures determine what is, or is not, good campus speech it is problematic for many reasons, but in particular it is a classic example of centralized regulation that robs the ability of campus actors to negotiate better solutions. And that what's been happening.
Back to my first example. Two of the most prominent professors in opposing overly broad speech codes in the 1990s were political scientists Donald Downs (a first amendment scholar) and Ken Mayer.
Downs helped craft free speech policies that the UW Regents adopted. But after a Ben Shapiro talk was interrupted, his policies were replaced with a more punitive policy crafted by an Arizona libertarian think tank that actually undermined speech. https://madison.com/wsj/opinion/column/donald-downs-and-steve-underwood-rethink-campus-speech-bill/article_64b84adc-86b2-56b4-9d2a-11401dddad9d.html
. @uwkenmayer would be pilloried on Tucker Carlson for including language critical of Trump in his syllabus on the Presidency. The chair of the Assembly higher ed committee also sent a letter to university leaders criticizing him. https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/teaching-about-trump-uw-madison-professor-whose-syllabus-drew-backlash-speaks-out/article_92ab6813-7d83-59b6-9bea-80bd81cadf9a.html
My point is that the current moral panic has sidelined or attacked those who are true defenders of free speech on campus. Trust me, you want them, rather than partisan actors, being the ones making the judgments about how to protect campus speech.
