What We’re Reading: December 2022 

Our top 10 reads this month grapple with issues of academic freedom, including faculty freedom to determine curricular content and to express viewpoints at odds with their school’s faith mission—and whether U.S. universities can uphold academic freedom commitments at branch campuses in China.

Campus Happenings

Ann Coulter ’84 Speaking Event at Cornell a Non-Starter After Disruptions, Protest Prompt an Early Exit
Lucas Santiago | The Cornell Daily Sun | November 13, 2022

A Cornell student group, Network of Enlightened Women, invited alumna Ann Coulter to analyze the midterm elections. Cornell administrators refused calls to cancel the event and assisted Coulter’s security. Nevertheless, “The event followed a domino-like pattern. Protesters were slowly ushered out by police and security, Coulter would attempt to speak again, and then would be cut-off by a different student somewhere else in the hall.” The event ended after 20 minutes.

Valdosta Prof’s ‘Woke’ Lesson Draws Parent Fire, Free Speech Support
Vanessa McCray | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | November 14, 2022

After the parent of a Valdosta State University undergraduate complained to the dean that a tenured biology professor taught “woke” lessons in her Evolution and the Diversity of Life course, the dean warned her “to change her approach or else she would be moved to another class.” The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and Pen America asserted that the public university violated the professor’s academic freedom to assign content germane to the subject. At press time, she was scheduled to teach the course in Spring 2023.

BYU-I Instructors Fired for Failing ‘Ecclesiastical Clearance.’ They Can’t Find Out Why.
Tamarra Kemsley | The Salt Lake Tribune | November 28, 2022

Brigham Young University-Idaho dismissed two adjunct faculty members after they “failed to obtain ‘ecclesiastical clearance.’” Both “said they had met the requirements as they’d been explained to them,” and both also reported having raised question about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ teaching on LGBTQ individuals; they suspect that these questions caused their dismissals.

KS Supreme Court Justice Stegall Leaves KU, Cites Uproar Over Conservative Campus Speaker
Jonathan Shorman and Katie Bernard | The Kansas City Star | November 30, 2022

A Kansas Supreme Court judge notified the dean of the University of Kansas School of Law that he will no longer teach at the school because, in his view, the school “fosters a spirit of fear” about expressing unpopular views. The judge’s resignation came after the school’s Federalist Society chapter was pressured to withdraw an invitation to a speaker; the event went ahead, with protests.

‘Lock Him Up’: Protesters Gather to Oppose George Bush Speech
Seth Nelson | The Exponent | December 6, 2022

Several dozen protestors from the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Greater Lafayette Democratic Socialists of America protested a Purdue University address by former President George W. Bush. A Purdue University Police Department officer said that the PUPD sought out protest organizers prior to the event “to make sure that YDSA is able to accomplish its goal, and that we’ll be able to accomplish our goal of protecting the former president.” The sold-out event went forward with protests but without interruption.

Op-eds and Thought Pieces

When a Berkeley Law Debate on Free Speech Got Turned into a Social Media Circus
Erwin Chemerinsky | Los Angeles Times | November 20, 2022

The dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law finds the First Amendment, state law, and even the “marketplace of ideas” adequate to resolve controversy and stop violent threats after Law Students for Justice in Palestine asked other student groups to pledge not to invite pro-Israeli speakers. Administrators, he argues, must craft a value-driven—rather than a legal—approach to fulfill schools’ “commitment that educational institutions be places where all views can be expressed and where all students feel included.”

Friendships Can Heal Campus Divisions, Study Finds, and Administrators Play a Big Role
Grace Mayer | The Chronicle of Higher Education | November 22, 2022

“Colleges that actively encourage friendships among students across religious differences can play a crucial role in bridging divisions, ultimately creating more-compassionate campus environments,” researchers report. “Campus spaces, policies, and programs” designed to “nudge these relationships along” make the greatest impact during students’ first year in college.

Campus Protests Sweeping China Spread to U.S.
Liam Knox | Inside Higher Ed | November 30, 2022

Chinese nationals enrolled at U.S. universities risk consequences from their government by participating in campus protests against Chinese zero-COVID policies. “Such gatherings are often attended by representatives from the Chinese Embassy or members of Chinese Students and Scholars Associations, which have been known to report international students.” Meanwhile, American universities with branch campuses in China face questions about whether they can uphold their academic missions—and reputations—while operating under a regime that suppresses dissent and open inquiry.

If It Was Good Enough For Socrates, It’s Good Enough for Sophomores
Molly Worthen | The New York Times | December 2, 2022

A University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill professor argues that reviving oral exams could relieve faculty and student self-censorship and sense of being “on eggshells.” “By testing students’ intellectual agility, normalizing nerves and giving them space to be honest about bold opinions, oral exams treat undergraduates like adults: people who have interesting things to say and can handle being put on the spot.”

Big Reads

Will We Ratify the Constitution of Knowledge?
Daniel Cullen | Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy | November 2022

Daniel Cullen, a Rhodes College professor and member of BPC’s Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression, describes how college campuses can reconcile a commitment to free speech and academic freedom with priorities of inclusion. His answer: “an academic community of inquirers, inclusion in which is as expansive as possible but for reasons independent of identity.”