{"id":67645,"date":"2016-08-26T11:49:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T15:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=67645"},"modified":"2016-08-26T11:50:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T15:50:16","slug":"the-university-of-chicago-and-free-expression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=67645","title":{"rendered":"The University of Chicago and free expression"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Chicago<\/a> sent a letter out to it’s incoming students explaining to them that the University will be a forum for ideas, not a megaphone for students – that they shouldn’t expect “trigger warnings”.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called \u2018trigger warnings,\u2019 we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial and we do not condone the creation of intellectual \u2018safe spaces\u2019 where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own,\u201d Ellison said in the letter, which was obtained by Inside Higher Ed. \u201cDiversity of opinion and background is a fundamental strength of our community. The members of our community must have the freedom to espouse and explore a wide range of ideas.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UofC history professor John Boyer, who wrote a book “Academic Freedom and the Modern University: The Experience of the University of Chicago” which accompanied the letter to students says this discussion isn’t new<\/a> in human history;<\/p>\n

The point of his book, he says, and the reason the school wanted students to read it, is that \u201cthe questions about academic freedom are as old as university education itself. This goes back to the German universities of the 19th century. It originated in Europe, was adopted by Americans and amplified through the lens of our First Amendment. It\u2019s a perennial issue.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, New Republic<\/a> had a conniption fit charging that the letter violates free speech;<\/p>\n

Ellison\u2019s letter is a perverse document. It\u2019s very much like the French Burkini ban: an illiberal policy justified in the name of liberal values. As CUNY historian Angus Johnston notes, \u201cThere\u2019s no college in the country where profs are required to give trigger warnings. They\u2019re all voluntary pedagogical choices. Which means a professor\u2019s use of trigger warnings isn\u2019t a threat to academic freedom. It\u2019s a MANIFESTATION of academic freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnston is exactly on-point. Prior to Ellison\u2019s letter, University of Chicago professors had the right to use trigger warnings or not use them. Now, if a professor decides to use them, he or she will face administrative opposition. Academic freedom means that professors get to design their syllabus, not administrators like Ellison. His letter is a prime example of how the outcry against \u201cpolitical correctness\u201d often leads to policy changes that limit free speech.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, the letter violates the tenets of the 1962 Port Huron Statement<\/a>, the plan by Tom Hayden and the hippies to take over the education establishment to guide the country Left. The Chicago letter is a speed bump on that journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Chicago sent a letter out to it’s incoming students explaining to them that … The University of Chicago and free expression<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}