On December 23, 2022, the Virginia Council of Presidents, a group of 39 college and university presidents in the state, released a statement affirming free speech. The first lines of the statement read, “As presidents of Virginia’s public colleges and universities, we unequivocally support free expression and viewpoint diversity on our campuses. Free expression is the fundamental basis for both academic freedom and for effective teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom.”

This was a welcome development. Despite producing two of America’s fiercest defenders of free speech, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson (the latter of whom founded the University of Virginia in 1819), Virginia’s higher education institutions do not always live up to their duty to protect constitutional freedoms. In April 2023, students disrupted a pro-life speaker at Virginia Commonwealth University, and two protesters were arrested on charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct. In the days before Mike Pence was scheduled to speak at the University of Virginia, posters advertising the speech were ripped down, and the editor of the university’s student newspaper chastised university leadership for allowing the event to proceed in an article titled, “Dangerous rhetoric is not entitled to a platform.”        

With its free speech statement, the members of the Virginia Council of Presidents recognized the serious free expression challenges afflicting Virginia’s campuses. In an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch announcing the new statement, higher education leaders Jonathan Alger, Shannon Kennedy, Katherine Rowe, and Timothy Sands wrote, “Our 39 public institutions are committed to action. Students, faculty and staff will see a renewed focus on participatory citizenship, free expression and the purposeful inclusion of disparate viewpoints.”

The state of Virginia has made admirable efforts to uphold free expression in public education. On November 28, 2023, Governor Glenn Youngkin addressed an assembly of higher education leaders, exhorting them to improve the climate for free speech on campus. And at ACTA’s 2023 Alumni Summit on Free Expression, Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera encouraged alumni to advocate for free expression and intellectual diversity on campus.

It is up to university leadership to make the spirit of the free speech statement a reality by implementing policies and practices that protect the First Amendment and foster open inquiry.

The post On This Day In Campus Freedom: Council of Presidents Commits to Protecting Free Speech appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

The post On This Date In Campus Freedom: George Mason Born On This Day in 1725 appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

The University of Texas (UT) System is one of the nation’s largest university systems, boasting eight campuses and 240,000 full-time students. On November 17, 2022, the UT regents approved the University of Texas Commitment to Freedom of Speech and Expression. The statement, which was modeled on the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression, “guarantees all members of the UT System the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.” It continues, “The UT System and the UT institution fully respect and support the freedom of all members of the UT System community ‘to discuss any problem that presents itself.’” 
 
System Board Chairman Kevin Eltife said the adoption of the statement “underscores The University of Texas System’s long-standing commitment to freedom of speech and expression on our campuses in a manner that promotes open inquiry, provides transparency and upholds the rule of law. We will always value and embrace the debate of competing ideas and principles.”

The system’s decision followed a 2018 lawsuit brought by Speech First against UT–Austin’s Campus Climate Response Team. The lawsuit claimed that the bias response team and several other campus policies violated students’ constitutionally protected free speech rights. After years of litigation, the parties agreed to a settlement, and the UT–Austin student government petitioned the UT System to adopt the Chicago Principles.

In adopting the Commitment to Freedom of Speech and Expression, the UT System sent a clear message to universities across the state and nation that the free expression of ideas is fundamental to the mission of higher education. But this is just a first step. UT leadership must ensure that the spirit of the statement is rigorously promoted in classrooms, lecture halls, and dormitories so that students and faculty are free to encounter challenging ideas and debate current issues in a spirit of openness and respect, unafraid of censure or sanction.

The post On This Date in Campus Freedom: University of Texas System Adopts The Chicago Statement Affirming Free Speech appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

Conservative political commentator Ann Coulter was invited by Cornell University’s chapter of the Network of Enlightened Women to speak on November 9, 2022. Just minutes into her speech, students began a coordinated protest, using “whoopie cushions, screaming, and loud circus music” to drown out Ms. Coulter. Students chanted, “Your words are violence!” and “We don’t want your ideas here! Leave! Leave!” Ms. Coulter was soon escorted out by security for her protection. In a statement given to ACTA, Ms. Coulter criticized the “tepid” actions of administrators and lamented that Cornell students were allowed to “waste everyone’s time and money, and make a joke of free speech at this allegedly world-class university.”

This was not Ms. Coulter’s first brush with a university cancelation. The College Republicans at the University of California–Berkeley invited her to speak in April 2017. The Berkeley administration asked the College Republicans to postpone the event until the next week, saying it had received threats against Ms. Coulter and could not provide adequate security. The club rejected that proposal because it would move the event to “dead week.” Ms. Coulter ultimately had to cancel her Berkeley trip.

Most university professors lean left, and Cornell is a politically progressive community. Had she been allowed to finish her presentation, Ms. Coulter would have brought a point of view that is rarely expressed on campus. The question-and-answer session she planned to hold would have given students who disagreed with her an appropriate opportunity to challenge her views and have their own opinions challenged as well. Instead, the many students who came to the event in good faith were unable to hear new perspectives and engage in the reasoned debate that is the foundation of intellectual progress and mutual understanding.

The post On This Date In Campus Freedom: Ann Coulter Heckled by Cornell Students at On-Campus Speaking Event appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

In September 2021, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences disinvited University of Chicago Associate Professor of Geophysics Dorian Abbot from delivering the prestigious John Carlson Lecture on October 21 of that year. Dr. Abbot cowrote a Newsweek op-ed that proposed prioritizing merit, fairness, and equality in college admissions over diversity, equity, and inclusion. Soon after the piece was published, a Twitter mob branded Professor Abbot as a racist and urged MIT to rescind its invitation.

The MIT administration made the wrong call here. Dr. Abbot was invited on the basis of his novel theories about the climates of exoplanets, which fulfilled the John Carlson Lecture’s aim to communicate “exciting new results in climate science to the general public.” His opinions about college admissions were fully protected by academic freedom and had no bearing on his qualifications to deliver the lecture.

MIT’s loss became Princeton’s gain. Robert George, director of Princeton’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, jumped at the chance to host Professor Abbot’s presentation on October 21, 2021, calling MIT’s decision “chilling to academic freedom and free speech.” Many students from outside geophysics and planetary sciences attended the lecture, eager to hear from a professor whose views are considered out of bounds at America’s leading university for science, mathematics, and engineering.

When Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences disinvited Dorian Abbot, Princeton’s Robert George jumped at the chance to host Professor Abbot’s presentation on October 21, 2021, calling MIT’s decision “chilling to academic freedom and free speech.”

The post On This Date in Campus Freedom: Professor Dorian Abbot Gives Speech at Princeton after MIT Disinvitation appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

John P. McWhorter was the recipient of ACTA’s Philip Merrill Award for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Arts Education on this date in 2022 because of his extensive scholarly work as a linguist at Columbia University professor and his trenchant social and political commentary. A regular columnist for The New York Times, John McWhorter also has written a best-selling book, Woke Racism, in which he outlined his perspective on the damaging nature of the current anti-racism rubric and its negative impact on higher education and the broader social fabric of America. He appears regularly on The Glenn Show podcast, hosted by Glenn Loury, who was one of professor McWhorter’s tribute speakers at the gala ceremony. John McWhorter’s prodigious contributions to the liberal arts earned him the Merrill Award, which he received on October 21, 2022.

The post On This Date in Campus Freedom: Professor John P. McWhorter Receives Merrill Award appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

On March 19, 2019, York College of Pennsylvania Professor Erec Smith critiqued a keynote address delivered related to his discipline, Rhetoric and Composition. He argued that the talk was a kind of performative politics that wouldn’t bring about real change and he challenged the author’s claim that teaching standardized English to students of color is an act of white supremacy. While the response was swift and isolating, Professor Smith did not back down. Instead, he refocused his efforts, writing his book A Critique of Anti-Racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment which dissects the over-reliance of anti-racist initiatives on identity politics and victimization and offers instead an alternative path based on empowerment theory. He continues to support free expression and intellectual diversity through his work and writing. He is also one of the co-founders of Free Black Thought, a website and journal dedicated to spotlighting viewpoint diversity among black intellectuals. Listen to his remarks upon acceptance of Hero of Intellectual Freedom Award, Turning Haters into Motivators here.

The post On This Date in Campus Freedom: Erec Smith Hero of Intellectual Freedom appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

On October 17, 2021, Princeton University alumni Stuart Taylor, Jr., and Edward Yingling published a call to arms in the Wall Street Journal, decrying the illiberal intolerance gripping academia and heralding the rise of a grassroots alumni movement aimed at restoring free speech and academic freedom on American college campuses. Their article, titled “Alumni Unite For Freedom Of Speech,” sounded the alarm about the censorship and indoctrination engulfing higher education and put cloistered faculty and administrators on notice that alumni are no longer content to be passive bystanders or automatic cash dispensers. The piece was the catalyst for the establishment of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, an organization that is inspiring alumni nationwide to force a reckoning at their alma maters.

The post On This Date In Campus Freedom: The Wall Street Journal Published A Call to Arms for Alumni Dedicated to Free Expression on Campus appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

Overspecialization within higher education poses similar problems. Most students choose a major their freshman year and then dive immediately into degree-specific courses. At the same time, institutions are throwing out the “outdated” liberal arts core curriculum in favor of general education courses oriented toward individual majors. At first glance, this seems reasonable. Colleges and universities want to make sure that students are as educated as possible in their field of study before graduation. However, students’ career prospects will also be harmed if they do not receive basic training in the liberal arts and sciences. Research has shown that studying these essential subjects develops important abilities that employers prize, like communication and critical thinking skills. Without these skills, they will not be attractive job candidates, even if they have taken every course in their selected degree.

Interdisciplinary study enhances students’ competency in their chosen specialization by helping them understand how their major relates to other disciplines, apply their specialized knowledge in different contexts, and effectively communicate what they know. This style of education goes back to the earliest universities. In 1828, Yale University published its Report on a Course of Liberal Education, which defines the general subject areas that all students should explore and the important skills these subjects cultivate:

From pure mathematics, [the student] learns the art of demonstrative reasoning. In attending to the physical sciences, he becomes familiar with facts . . . In ancient literature, he finds some of the most finished models of taste. By English reading, he learns the powers of the language in which he is to speak and write. By logic and mental philosophy, he is taught the art of thinking; by rhetoric and oratory, the art of speaking.

Each of these disciplines is not only crucial for developing a well-rounded individual but is also highly sought after in the labor market. A 2021 survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that the two skills most desired by employers are critical thinking and communication, which employers say most recent graduates lack. These two skills are learned not in the lab, but through writing and close reading, which are activities explicitly taught in literature, philosophy, history, and similar disciplines. An engineering student who has never studied basic composition will struggle to explain clearly his work and abilities not only to a prospective employer in an interview, but also to other contractors when on the job, which could delay important construction projects or result in sub-quality products.

To prepare the strongest possible job candidates, colleges and universities should require every student to take a structured interdisciplinary core curriculum alongside their major-specific courses. Students with a firm grasp of history, mathematics, literature, and other core subjects, in addition to their major, will be best-equipped to succeed in their chosen specialization and to transfer their skills throughout their career.

The post The Benefits of Interdisciplinary Study appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

sdgjodfjgdfjgodfjgd

So… how do you think you did?

The correct answers, in order of the questions, are:

Question 1: What is Purdue?

Question 2: What is Rice

Question 3: What is Duke?

Question 4:  What is Notre Dame?

Question 5: What is the University of California–Berkeley?

Thank you, Jeopardy, for using the episode to highlight an issue that is no minor matter to the many Americans who increasingly find themselves priced out of a college education and paying more and more for a degree that often means less and less in the job market.

You should not have to be a Jeopardy champion to afford the cost of higher education, nor should seeking a degree put anyone in financial jeopardy. While one game show episode is not enough to motivate overpriced schools to tackle the tuition crisis, we hope it serves as another check on the conscience of school administrators who refuse to slash overhead, cut costs, and deliver more bang for the tuition buck.

Check out ACTA’s website, HowCollegesSpendMoney.com, for a deeper dive into the college spending crisis.  

The post College Affordability is in Jeopardy appeared first on American Council of Trustees and Alumni.